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6^   ^6i/-At^ 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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i^'ONTENTS. 
\--y 


»  •  ■    «     >     ■* 


P/V 


A 


Gallant  Conduct  of  a  French  Privateer, . 
Capture  of  General  Prescott, 
The  Loss  of  the  Royal  George, 
A  Glimpse  of  Detroit, 
A  Skirmish  off  Bermuda, 

Charles  Wager, 

Clearing  a  Waterfall,        ,         .         .         . 
Heroism  and  Devotedness  of  a  Woman, 
The  Black-IIole  of  Calcutta,  . 
An  Incident  of  Sailor  Life,         .        . 


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GALLANT  CONDUCT  OF  A  FRENCH 
PRIVATEER. 


HE  following  animated  description 
of  the  chase  of  a  French  privateer, 
during  the  continental  war,  by  His 
Majesty's  ship  Endymion,  is  from 
the  narrative  of  an  officer  who  was  on  board 
the  latter  vessel : 

"  On  the  8th  of  November,  i8io,  when  we 
were  lying  in  that  splendid  harbor,  the  Cove 
of  Cork,  and  quietly  refitting  our  ship,  an 
order  came  for  us  to  proceed  to  sea  instantly, 
on  a  cruise  of  a  week  off  Cape  Clear,  in 
quest  of  an  enemy's  vessel,  reported  to  have 
been  seen  from  some  of  the  signal-towers 
on  the  west  coast.  We  were  in  such  a  pre- 
dicament, that    it   was    impossible   to  start 


6        Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

before  the  next  morning,  though  we  work- 
ed hard  all  night.  Off  we  went  at  last ;  but 
it  was  not  till  the  nth  that  we  were  able  to 
reach  our  appointed  station, 

"  Toward  evening  it  fell  dead  calm,  at 
which  time  there  were  two  strange  sails  in 
sight ;  one  of  them  a  ship,  which  we  '  calcu- 
lated '  was  an  American,  from  the  whiteness 
of  her  sails  ;  the  other  a  very  suspicious, 
roguish-looking  brig ;  but  as  both  of  them 
were  hull  down,  much  of  this  was  guess- 
work. 

"  As  the  night  fell,  a  light  breeze  sprang 
up,  and  we  made  all  sail  in  the  direction  of 
the  brig,  though  she  was  no  longer  visible. 
In  the  course  of  the  middle  watch,  we  for- 
tunately got  sight  of  her  with  our  night- 
glasses,  and  by  two  in  the  morning  were 
near  enough  to  give  her  a  shot.  The  brig 
was  then  standing  in  the  wind,  while  we  were 
coming  down  upon  her,  right  before  it,  or 
nearly  so.  The  sound  of  our  bow-chaser 
could  hardly  have  reached  the  vessel  it  was 
fired  at,  before  her  helm  was  up  ;  and  in  the 
next  instant  her  booms  were  rigged  out,  and 
her  studding-sails,  low  and  aloft,  seen  dan- 


Tales  of  Naval  and  JMilitary  L  ife.        7 

gling  at  the  yard-arms.  The  most  crack  ship 
in  His  Majesty's  service,  with  everything 
prepared,  could  hardly  have  made  sail  more 
smartly. 

"  For  our  parts,  we  could  set  nothing  more, 
having  already  spread  every  stitch  of  canvas; 
but  the  yards  were  trimmed  afresh,  the  tack 
hauled  closer  out,  and  the  halyards  sweated 
up  till  the  yards  actually  pressed  against  the 
sheave-holes.  The  best  helmsman  on  board 
was  placed  at  the  wheel ;  and  the  foot  of  the 
foresail  being  drawn  slightly  up  by  the  bunt 
slab-line,  he  could  just  see  the  chase  clear  of 
the  foremast,  and  so  kept  her  very  nearly 
right  ahead.  The  two  forecastle  guns,  long 
9-pounders,  were  now  brought  to  bear  on  the 
brig;  but  as  we  made  quite  sure  of  catching 
her,  and  did  not  wish  needlessly  to  injure  our 
prize  or  to  hurt  her  people,  orders  were 
given  to  fire  at  the  sails,  which,  expanded  as 
they  now  were  before  us,  like  the  tail  of  a 
peacock  in  his  fullest  pride,  offered  a  mark 
which  could  not  well  be  missed.  Neverthe- 
less, the  little  fellow  would  not  heave  to,  for 
all  we  could  do  with  our  forecastle  guns. 
At  four  o'clock,  therefore,  we  managed  to  get 


8        Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

one  of  the  long  i8-pounders  on  the  main-deck 
to  bear  upon  him  from  the  bridle-port.  Still, 
we  could  not  stop  him,  though  it  was  now 
bright  moonlight,  and  there  was  no  longer 
any  tenderness  about  hurting  his  people  or 
injuring  his  hull.  The  vessel,  however,  at 
which  we  were  now  peppering  away  with 
round  and  grape  shot,  as  hard  as  we  could 
discharge  them  from  three  good  smart  guns, 
was  so  low  in  the  water,  that  she  offered, 
when  seen  end  on,  scarcely  any  mark.  How 
it  happened  that  none  of  her  yards  or  masts 
came  rattling  down,  and  that  none  of  her 
sails  flew  away,  under  the  influence  of  our 
fire,  was  quite  inexplicable. 

"  The  water  still  continued  quite  smooth, 
though  the  breeze  had  freshened  till  we 
went  along  at  the  rate  of  six  or  seven  knots. 
When  the  privateer  got  the  wind,  which  we 
had  brought  up  with  us,  she  almost  kept  her 
own,  and  it  became  evident  that  she  was 
one  of  that  light  and  airy  description  of 
vessels  which  have  generally  an  advantage 
over  larger  ships  when  there  is  but  little 
wind.  We  therefore  observed,  with  much 
anxiety,  that  about  half-past  four  the  breeze 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.        9 

began  gradually  to  die  away,  after  which  the 
chase  rather  gained  than  lost  distance.  Of 
course,  the  guns  were  now  plied  with  double 
care,  and  our  best  marksmen  were  straining 
their  eyes,  and  exerting  their  utmost  skill, 
confident  of  hitting  her,  but  all  apparently 
to  no  purpose.  One  or  two  of  the  officers, 
in  particular,  who  piqued  themselves  on 
knowing  how  to  level  a  gun  on  principles 
quite  unerring,  in  vain  tried  their  infallible 
rules  to  bring  our  persevering  enemy  to  ac- 
knowledge himself  caught. 

"By  this  time,  of  course,  every  man  and 
boy  in  the  ship  was  on  deck,  whether  it  was 
his  watch  or  not ;  even  the  marine  officer, 
the  purser,  and  the  doctor  left  their  beds — 
a  rare  phenomenon.  Every  one  was  giving 
his  opinion  to  his  neighbor ;  some  said  the 
shot  went  over  her,  some  that  they  fell  short ; 
and  the  opinion  that  .she  was  a  witch  or  the 
Flying  Dutchman,  or  some  other  phantom, 
was  current  among  the  sailors,  while  the 
marines  were  clicking  their  flints,  and  pre- 
paring to  give  our  little  gentleman  a  taste 
of  the  small-arms  when  within  their  reach. 

"  While  things  were  in  this  anxious  but 


10      Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

very  pleasurable  state,  our  foresail  flapped 
slowly  against  the  mast — a  sure  indication 
that  the  breeze  was  lulling.  The  quadruple 
rows  of  reef  points  were  next  heard  to  rattle 
along  the  topsails — sounds  too  well  known 
to  every  car  as  symptoms  of  an  approaching 
calm.  The  studding-sails  were  still  full,  and 
so  were  the  royals  ;  but  by  and  by,  even 
their  light  canvas  refused  to  swell  out,  so 
faint  was  the  air  which  still  carried  us,  but 
very  gently,  along  the  water,  on  the  surface 
of  which  not  a  ripple  was  now  to  be  seen  in 
any  direction.  As  the  ship,  however,  still 
answered  her  helm,  we  kept  the  guns  to 
bear  on  the  chase  without  intermission,  and 
with  this  degree  of  effect,  that  all  her  sails, 
both  low  and  aloft,  were  soon  completely 
riddled,  and  some  of  them  were  seen  hang- 
ing in  such  absolute  rags,  that  the  slightest 
puff  of  wind  must  have  blown  them  away 
like  so  many  cobwebs.  By  five  o'clock  it 
was  almost  entirely  calm,  and  we  had  the 
mortification  to  observe  that  the  chase, 
whose  perseverance  had  kept  him  thus  long 
out  of  our  clutches,  was  putting  in  practice 
a    manoeuvre   we   could    not   imitate.     He 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      1 1 

thrust  out  his  sweeps,  as  they  are  called, 
huge  oars  requiring  five  or  six  men  to  each. 
These,  when  properly  handled  by  a  sufficiently 
numerous  crew,  in  a  small  light  vessel,  give 
her  the  heels  of  a  large  ship,  when  so  nearly 
calm  as  it  now  was  with  us.  We  were  not 
going  more  than  a  knot  through  the  water, 
if  so  much,  which  was  barely  enough  to  give 
us  steerage-way. 

"  The  Frenchman  got  out^^JU'^tlppose, 
about  fifteen  or  twenty  of  ifiese  sweeps,  and 
so  vigorously  were  they  j<niai'tJ3,dil;\A^4  could 
see  by  the  moonlight,  and\sti^  r6<^e  distinct- 
ly when  the  dawn  appealed,  that  the  foam 
was  made  to  fly  in  sheets  at  ettClTstroke  of 
these  gigantic  oars,  which  were  worked  to- 
gether by  their  looms  being  united  by  a 
hawser  stretching  fore  and  aft.  Our  chief 
anxiety  now  was  to  pitch  a  shot  amongst  his 
sweeps,  as  one  successful  hit  there  would 
have  sent  half  his  crew  spinning  about  the 
decks.  ViVX  we  were  not  so  fortunate  ;  and 
in  less  than  an  hour  he  was  out  of  shot, 
walking  off  from  us  in  a  style  which  it  was 
impossible  not  to  admire,  though  our  disap- 
pointment and  vexation  were  excessive.     By 


1 2       Talcs  of  Naval  and  Ulilitaiy  Life. 

mid-day  he  was  at  least  ten  miles  ahead  of 
us  ;  and  at  two  o'clock  we  could  just  see  his 
upper  sales  above  the  horizon.  We  had  ob- 
scrv^cd,  during  the  morning,  that  our  inde- 
fatigable little  chase,  as  soon  as  he  had  row- 
ed himself  from  under  the  relentless  fire  of 
our  guns,  was  busily  employed  in  bending  a 
new  suit  of  sails,  fishing  his  splintered  yard?, 
shifting  his  top-gallant  mast,  and  rigging 
out  fresh  studding-sail  booms — all  wounded, 
more  or  less,  by  our  shot.  As  the  severe 
labor  of  the  sweeps  was  never  intermitted, 
we  knew  to  a  certainty  that  the  chase, 
though  small,  must  be  full  of  hands,  and  con- 
sequently it  was  an  object  of  great  impor- 
tance for  us  to  catch  him.  Of  this,  however, 
there  now  seemed  but  very  little  chance  ; 
and  many  were  the  hearty  maledictions  he 
received,  though  shared,  it  is  true,  by  our 
own  crack  marksmen,  now  quite  crest-fallen, 
or  driven  to  the  poor  excuse  of  declaring 
that  the  moonlight  on  the  water  had  deceiv- 
ed them  as  to  the  distance. 

"  It  really  seemed  as  if  every  one  on  board 
had  been  seized  with  a  fever.  Nothing  else 
was  thought  of,  or  talked  of,  but  the  French 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.      1 3 

brig  ;  every  glass,  great  and  small,  was  in 
requisition,  from  the  pocket  spy-glass  of  the 
youngest  midshipman,  to  the  forty-inch  focus 
of  the  captain.  Each  telescope  in  its  turn 
was  hoisted  to  the  cross-trees,  and  pointed 
with  a  sort  of  sickening  eagerness  toward 
the  lessening  speck  on  the  distant  horizon. 
One  might  also  have  thought  that  the  ship 
was  planted  in  a  grove  of  trees,  in  the  height 
of  spring-time,  so  numerous  were  the  whis- 
tlers. This  practice  of  whistling  for  a  wind 
is  one  of  our  nautical  superstitions,  which, 
however  groundless  and  absurd,  fastens  in- 
sensibly on  the  strong-minded  sailors  at  such 
times.  Indeed,  I  have  seen  many  an  anxi- 
ous officer's  mouth  take  the  piping  form,  and 
have  even  heard  some  sounds  escape  from 
lips  which  would  have  vehemently  disclaimed 
all  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  such  incantation. 
"  But  it  would  be  about  as  wise  a  project 
to  reason  with  the  gales  themselves,  as  to 
attempt  convincing  Jack  that,  as  the  wind 
blowcth  only  when  and  where  it  listcth,  Iiis 
invoking  it  can  be  of  no  sort  of  use  one 
way  or  the  other.  He  will  still  whistle  on,  I 
have    no   doubt,  in  all    time  to   come,  when 


14      Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

he  wants  a  breeze,  in  spite  of  the  march  of 
intellect  ;  for,  as  long  as  the  elements  re- 
main the  same,  a  sailor's  life — manage  it  as 
we  will — cannot  be  materially  altered.  It  must 
always  be  made  up  of  alternate  severe  labor 
and  complete  indolence — of  the  highest  im- 
aginable excitement,  and  of  the  most  per- 
fect lassitude.  If  I  were  not  anxious  at 
this  moment  to  get  back  to  my  chase,  I 
think  I  could  show  how  these  causes,  acting 
upon  such  strange  stuff  as  sailors  are  made 
of,  lead  to  the  formation  of  those  supersti- 
tious habits  by  which  they  have  always  been 
characterized. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  we  per- 
ceived from  the  mast-head,  far  astern,  a  dark 
line  along  the  horizon,  which  some  of  our 
most  experienced  hands  pronounced  the  first 
trace  of  the  breeze  coming  up.  In  the  course 
of  half  an  hour,  this  line  had  widened  so 
much  that  it  could  easily  be  perceived  from 
the  deck.  Upon  seeing  this,  the  whistlers 
redoubled  their  efforts,  and  whether,  as  they 
pretended,  it  was  owing  to  their  interest 
with  the  clerk  of  the  weather-office,  or  whe- 
ther the  wind,  if  left  alone,  would  have  come 


Tales  of  Naval  and  ]\Iilitary  Life.      1 5 

just  as  soon,  I  do  not  venture  to  pronounce  ; 
but  certain  it  is,  that,  long  before  sunset,  our 
hearts  were  rejoiced  by  the  sight  of  those 
numerous  flying  patches  of  wind,  scattered 
over  the  calm  surface  of  the  sea,  and  called 
by  seamen  cat's-paws — I  presume  from  the 
stealthy,  timorous  manner  in  which  they 
seem  to  touch  the  water  and  straightway 
vanish  again.  By  and  by,  the  true  wind,  the 
ripple  from  which  had  marked  the  horizon 
astern  of  us,  and  broken  the  face  of  the  mir- 
ror shining  brightly  everywhere  else,  indi- 
cated its  approach,  by  fanning  out  the  sky- 
sails  and  other  flying  kites,  generally  sup- 
posed to  be  superfluous,  but  which,  upon 
such  occasions  as  this,  do  good  service  by 
catching  the  first  breath  of  air  that  seems  al- 
ways to  float  far  above  the  water.  One  by 
one  the  sails  were  filled  ;  and  as  the  ship 
gathered  way,  every  person  marked  the  glis- 
tening eye  of  the  helmsman,  when  he  felt 
the  spokes  of  the  wheel  pressing  against  his 
hand  by  the  action  of  the  water  on  the  rud- 
der. The  fire-engine  had  been  carried  into 
the  tops,  and,  where  its  long  spout  could  not 
reach,  buckets  of  water  were  drawn  up  and 


1 6      Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

thrown  on  the  sails,  so  that  every  pore  was 
filled,  and  the  full  effect  of  the  wind  was  ex- 
erted on  the  canvas. 

"  The  ship  now  began  to  speak,  as  it  is 
termed  ;  and  on  looking  over  the  gangway 
we  could  see  a  line  of  small  hissing  bubbles, 
not  yet  deserving  the  name  of  spray,  but 
quite  enough  to  prove  to  us  that  the  breeze 
was  beginning  to  tell.  It  was  near  the  middle 
of  November,  but  the  day  was  as  hot  as  if  it 
had  been  summer  ;  and  the  wind,  now  fresh- 
ening at  every  second,  blew  coolly  and  grate- 
fully upon  us,  giving  assurance  that  we 
should  have  no  more  calms  to  trouble  us, 
whatever  might  be  our  other  difficulties  in 
catching  Monsieur  Frenchman. 

"  Of  these  difficulties,  the  greatest  by  far 
was  that  of  keeping  sight  of  the  brig  after  it 
became  dark.  We  overhauled  him,  how- 
ever, so  fast,  that  we  had  great  hopes  of  get- 
ting near  enough  to  be  able  to  command  him 
with  the  night-glasses,  in  which  case  we 
made  pretty  sure  of  our  prize.  The  night- 
glass,  it  may  be  right  to  explain,  is  a  tele- 
scope of  small  power,  increasing  the  diame- 
ter of  objects  only  about  eight  times.     It  has 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.      1 7 

a  large  field-glass  ;  and  in  order  to  save  the 
interception  of  light,  has  one  lens  fewer  than 
usual,  which  omission  has  the  effect  of  in- 
verting the  object  looked  at.  But  this, 
though  inconvenient,  is  of  little  consequence 
in  cases  where  the  desideratum  is  merely  to 
get  sight  of  a  vessel,  without  seeking  to 
make  out  the  details. 

"  Meanwhile,  as  we  spanked  along,  rapidly 
accelerating  our  pace,  and  rejoicing  in  the 
cracking  of  the  ropes,  and  the  bending  of 
the  lightest  and  loftiest  spars — that  butter- 
fly sort  of  gear  which  a  very  little  wind  soon 
brushes  away — we  had  the  malicious  satis- 
faction of  observing  that  the  poor  little  priva- 
teer had  not  yet  got  a  mouthful  of  the  charm- 
ing wind  which,  like  the  well-known  intoxi- 
cating gas,  was  by  this  time  setting  us  all  a 
skipping  about  the  decks.  The  greater  part 
of  the  visible  ocean  was  now  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  new-born  breeze  ;  but,  in  the 
spot  where  the  brig  lay,  there  occurred  a  belt 
or  splash  of  clear  white  light,  within  which 
the  calm  still  lingered,  with  the  privateer 
sparkling  in  its  centre.  Just  as  the  sun  went 
down,  however,  this  spot  was  likewise  melt- 


1 8      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

ed  into  the  rest,  and  the  brig,  like  a  poor 
hare  roused  from  her  seat,  sprang  off  again. 
We  were  soon  near  enough  to  see  her 
sweeps  rigged  in — to  the  delight,  no  doubt, 
of  her  weary  crew,  whose  apprehensions  of 
an  English  prison  had  probably  kept  up 
their  strength  to  a  pitch  rarely  equalled. 

"  As  the  twilight — the  brief  twilight  of  win- 
ter— galloped  away,  a  hundred  pairs  of  eyes 
were  almost  jumping  out  of  their  sockets  in 
their  attempts  to  pierce  the  night ;  while 
those  who  had  glasses  kept  scrubbing  them 
without  mercy,  as  if  they  imagined  more 
light  would  be  let  into  the  tube  the  more 
they  injured  the  lenses.  One  person,  and 
only  one,  continued,  as  he  asserted,  to  see 
the  chase,  faintly  strung,  like  a  bead,  on  the 
horizon.  I  need  not  say  that  this  sharp- 
sighted  gentleman  was  nailed  to  his  post, 
and  ordered  on  no  account  to  move  his 
head,  fatigue  or  no  fatigue.  There  happen- 
ed to  be  a  single  star,  directly  over  the  spot 
to  which  this  fortunate  youth  was  directing 
his  view,  with  as  much  anxiety  as  ever  Gali- 
leo peered  into  the  heavens  in  search  of  a 
new  planet.     This  fact  being  announced,  a 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      19 

dozen  spy-glasses  were  seen  wagging  up  and 
down  between  this  directing  star  and  that 
part  of  the  horizon,  now  almost  invisible,' 
which  lay  immediately  below  it.  Many  were 
the  doubts  expressed  of  the  correctness  of 
the  first  observation,  and  many  the  torment- 
ing questions  put  to  the  observer  as  to 
which  way  the  brig  was  standing,  what 
sail  she  had  set,  whether  we  were  drawing 
up  with  her  or  not,  as  if  the  poor  young- 
ster had  been  placed  alongside  of  the  vessel. 
These  doubts  and  fears  were  put  an  end  to, 
or  nearly  so,  by  bidding  the  boy  keep  his 
eye  fixed  on  what  he  took  to  be  the  chase, 
and  then,  without  acquainting  him  with  the 
change,  altering  the  ship's  course  for  half  a 
minute.  This  experiment  had  scarcely  been 
commenced  before  he  cried  out,  '  I  have 
lost  sight  of  her  this  very  moment !  I  saw 
her  but  an  instant  ago  !'  And  when  the 
ship's  head  was  brought  back  to  the  original 
course,  he  exclaimed,  'There  she  is  again, 
I  declare !  just  to  the  right  of  the  star.' 

"  This  star  served  another  useful  purpose 
at  the  same  time.  The  man  at  the  wheel 
could  see  it  shining  between  the  leech  of 


20      Talcs  of  Naval  aiid  Military  Life. 

the  fore-topsail  and  that  of  the  topmast 
studding-sail,  and  was  thus  enabled  to 
steer  the  ship  with  much  greater  steadiness 
than  he  could  possibly  have  done  by  the 
compass  alone.  Before  midnight,  as  the 
breeze  had  freshened  greatly,  and  we  were 
going  at  the  rate  of  nine  knots  an  hour,  we 
had  drawn  up  so  much  with  the  privateer 
that  every  one  could  see  her  with  the  naked 
eye,  and  the  gunner,  with  his  mates,  and  the 
marksmen  who  had  lost  their  credit  on  the 
preceding  night,  were  fidgeting  and  fussing 
about  the  guns,  eager  to  be  banging  away 
again  at  the  prize,  as  they  now  began,  rather 
prematurely,  to  call  her — little  knowing  what 
a  dexterous,  persevering,  and  gallant  little 
fellow  they  had  to  deal  with,  and  how  much 
trouble  he  was  yet  to  give  us. 

"  It  was  not  till  about  two  o'clock  that  we 
once  more  came  within  good  shot  of  him  ; 
and  as  it  had  been  alleged  that  the  guns 
were  fired  too  quickly  the  night  before,  and 
without  sufficient  care  in  pointing,  the  ut- 
most attention  was  now  paid  to  laying  them 
properly  ;  and  the  lanyard  of  the  trigger 
never  pulled,  till  the  person  looking  along 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      2  r 

the  gun  felt  confident  of  his  aim.  The  brig, 
however,  appeared  to  possess  the  same  witch- 
like, invulnerable  quality  as  ever ;  for  we 
could  neither  strike  her  hull,  so  as  to  force 
her  to  cry,  *  Peccavi,'  nor  bring  down  a  yard, 
nor  lop  off  a  mast  or  a  boom.  It  was  really 
a  curious  spectacle  to  see  a  little  bit  of  a 
thing  skimming  away  before  the  wind,  with 
such  a  huge  monster  as  the  Endymion  tear- 
ing and  plunging  after  her,  like  a  voracious 
dolphin  leaping  from  sea  to  sea  in  pursuit 
of  a  flying-fish. 

"  In  time  this  must  have  ended  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  brig  ;  for  as  we  gained  upon 
her  rapidly,  some  of  our  shot  must  by  and 
by  have  taken  effect,  and  sent  her  to  the 
bottom.  She  was  destined,  however,  to  en- 
joy a  little  longer  existence.  The  proper 
plan,  perhaps,  would  have  been  to  stand  on, 
firing  at  her  sails,  till  we  had  reached  with- 
in musket-shot,  and  then  to  have  knocked 
down  the  helmsman,  and  every  one  else  on 
her  deck.  This,  however,  was  not  our  cap- 
tain's plan — or  perhaps  he  became  impa- 
tient— at  all  events,  he  gave  orders  for  the 
whole  starboard  broadside  to  be  got  ready  ; 


22      Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

and  then  giving  the  ship  a  yaw,  poured  the 
whole  discharge,  as  he  thought,  right  into 
his  unfortunate  victim. 

"  Not  a  mortal  on  board  the  frigate  ex- 
pected ever  to  see  the  poor  brig  again. 
What,  then,  was  our  surprise,  when  the 
smoke  blew  swiftly  past,  to  see  the  intrepid 
little  brig  gliding  away  more  merrily  than 
before  !  As  far  as  good  discipline  would 
allow,  there  was  a  general  murmur  of  ap- 
plause at  the  Frenchman's  gallantry.  In 
the  next  instant,  however,  this  sound  was 
converted  into  hearty  laughter  over  the  fri- 
gate's decks,  when,  in  answer  to  our  thun- 
dering broadside,  a  single  small  gun,  a  6- 
pounder,  was  fired  from  the  brig's  stern,  as 
if  in  contempt  of  his  formidable  antagonist's 
prowess, 

"  Instead  of  gaining  by  our  manoeuvre,  we 
had  lost  a  good  deal ;  and  in  two  ways.  In 
the  first  place,  by  yawing  out  of  our  course, 
we  enabled  the  privateer  to  gain  several 
hundred  yards  upon  ^us  ;  and,  secondly,  his 
funny  little  shot,  which  had  excited  so  much 
mirth,  passed  through  the  lee  fore-topsail 
yard-arm,  about  six  feet  inside  the  boom  iron. 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ifc.      2  3 

Had  it  struck  on  the  windward  side,  where 
the  yard  was  cracking  and  straining  at  a 
most  furious  rate,  the  greater  part  of  the 
sails  on  the  foremast  might  have  been  taken 
in  quicker  than  we  could  have  wished — for 
wc  were  now  going  at  the  rate  of  eleven  and 
a  half,  with  the  wind,  on  the  quarter. 

•'  Just  as  we  made  out  where  his  first  shot 
had  struck  us,  another  cut  through  the  wea- 
ther main-top-gallant  sheet ;  and  so  he  went 
on  firing  away  briskly,  till  most  of  our  lofty 
sails  were  fluttering  with  the  holes  made  in 
them.  His  own  sails,  I  need  scarcely  add, 
were  by  this  time  so  completely  torn  up  by 
our  shot,  that  we  could  see  the  sky  through 
them  all ;  but  still  he  refused  to  heave  to — 
and  by  constantly  firing  his  single  stern- 
chaser,  was  evidently  resolved  to  lose  no 
possible  chance  of  escape.  Had  one  or  two 
of  his  shot  struck  either  of  o^ir  topmasts,  I 
really  believe  he  might  have  got  off  It 
therefore  became  ab.solutcly  necessary  that 
we  should  either  demoli.sh  or  capture  him 
without  further  loss  of  time.  The  choice 
wc  left  to  himself,  as  will  be  seen.  But  such 
a  spirited   cruiser   as   this   was   an   enemy 


24      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

worth  subduing  at  any  cost ;  for  there  was 
no  calculating  the  mischief  a  privateer  so 
admirably  commanded  might  have  wrought 
in  a  convoy.  There  was  a  degree  of  discre- 
tion, also,  about  this  expert  privateer's-man 
which  was  very  remarkable,  and  deserving 
of  such  favor  at  our  hands  as  we  had  to 
spare.  He  took  care  to  direct  his  stern-chaser 
so  high  that  there  was  little  chance  of  his 
shot  striking  any  of  our  people.  Indeed, 
he  evidently  aimed  solely  at  crippling  the 
masts— knowing  right  well  that  it  would 
answer  none  of  his  ends  to  kill  or  wound 
any  number  of  his  enemy's  crew,  while  it 
might  irritate  their  captain  to  show  him  less 
mercy  at  the  last  moment,  which,  as  will  be 
seen,  was  fast  approaching. 

"  The  breeze  had  now  freshened  nearly  to 
a  gale  of  wind,  and  when  the  log  was  hove, 
out  of  curiosity,  just  after  the  broadside  I 
have  described,  we  were  going  nearly  twelve 
knots,  (or  between  thirteen  and  fourteen 
miles  an  hour,)  foaming  and  splashing  along. 
The  distance  between  us  and  the  brig  was 
now  rapidly  decreasing,  for  most  of  his  sails 
were  in  shreds,  and  we  determined  to  bring 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      25; 

him,  as  we  said,  to  his  senses  at  last.  The 
guns  were  reloaded,  and  orders  given  to  de- 
press them  as  much  as  possible — that  is,  tO' 
point  their  muzzles  downward — but  not  a  shot 
was  to  be  fired  till  the  frigate  came  actually 
alongside  of  the  chase.  Such  was  the  poor 
privateer's  sentence  of  death — severe  indeed, 
but,  as  we  deemed,  necessary ;  for  he  ap- 
peared resolved  never  to  yield. 

"  On  we  flew,  right  down  upon  our  prey,, 
like  the  enormous  roc-bird  of  the  Arabian 
Nights.  We  had  ceased  firing  our  bow- 
chasers,  that  the  smoke  might  not  stand  be- 
tween us  and  the  lesson  we  meant  to  read 
to  our  resolute  pupil,  so  that  there  was. 
'silence  deep  as  death'  along  our  decks — 
and  doubtless  on  his  ;  for  he  likewise  had 
intermitted  his  firing,  and  seemed  prepared 
to  meet  his  fate,  and  go  to  the  bottom  like  a, 
man.  It  was  possible,  also,  we  thought,, 
that  he  might  only  be  watching,  even  in  his- 
last  extremity,  to  take  advantage  of  any 
negligence  on  our  part,  which  should  allow 
him  to  haul  suddenly  across  our  bow.s,  and,, 
by  getting  on  a  wind,  have  a  chance  of  es- 
caping.    This    chance,  it    is  true,  was  very 


26      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

•small ;  for  not  one  of  his  sails  was  in  a  con- 
dition to  stand  such  a  breeze  as  was  now 
blowing,  unless  when  running  nearly  before 
it.  But  we  had  seen  enough,  during  the 
two  days  we  had  been  together,  to  apprehend 
that  his  activity  was  at  least  a  match  for 
ours  ;  and  as  he  had  already  shown  that  he 
did  not  care  a  fig  for  shot,  he  might  bend 
new  sails  as  fast  as  we  could. 

"  At  all  events  we  were  resolved  to  make 
'him  surrender  or  run  him  down:  such  was 
our  duty,  and  that  the  Frenchman  knew 
right  well.  He  waited,  however,  until  our 
flying  jib-boom  end  was  almost  over  his  tafF- 
rail ;  and  that  the  narrow  space  between  us 
was  filled  with  a  confused,  boiling  heap'  of 
foam,  partly  caused  by  his  bows,  and  partly 
by  ours.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  when  he 
must  have  seen  into  our  ports,  and  along 
the  decks,  which  were  lighted  up  fore  and 
aft,  he  first  gave  the  signal  of  surrender. 

"The  manner  in  which  this  was  done  by 
the  captain  of  the  privateer  was  as  spirited 
and  characteristic  as  any  part  of  his  previous 
conduct.  The  night  was  very  dark  ;  but  the 
ships  were  so  near  to  each  other  that  we 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.      2  7 

could  distinguish  the  tall  figure  of  a  man 
mount  the  weather  main  rigging  of  the  brig, 
where  he  stood  erect,  with  a  lantern  in  his 
hand,  held  out  at  right  angles  from  his  body. 
Had  this  light  not  been  seen  or  its  purpose 
not  understood,  or  had  it  been  delayed  for 
twenty  seconds  longer,  the  frigate  must,  al- 
most in  spite  of  herself,  have  gone  right 
over  him,  and  the  salvo  of  a  double-shotted 
broadside  would  have  done  the  last  and  fit- 
ting honors  over  the  Frenchman's  grave. 

"  Even  as  it  was,  it  cost  some  trouble  to 
avoid  running  him  down  ;  for,  although  the 
helm  was  put  over  immediately,  our  lee 
quarter,  as  the  ship  flew  up  in  the  wind,  al- 
most grazed  his  weather  gangway.  In  pass- 
ing, we  ordered  him  to  bring  to  likewise. 
This  he  did  as  soon  as  we  gave  him  room, 
though  we  were  still  close  enough  to  see  the 
effect  of  such  a  manoeuvre  at  such  a  moment. 
Every  stitch  of  sail  he  had  set  was  blown,  in 
one  moment,  clean  out  of  the  bolt-ropes. 
His  halyards,  tacks,  and  sheets  had  been  all 
racked  aloft,  so  that  everything  not  made  of 
canvas  remained  in  its  place  ;  the  yards  at 
the  mast-heads,  and  the  booms  rigged  out — 


28      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

while  the  empty  leech  and  foot  ropes  hung 
down  in  festoons,  where,  but  a  minute  before, 
the  tattered  sails  had  been  spread. 

"We  fared,  comparatively  speaking,  not 
much  better  ;  for  although,  the  instant  the 
course  was  altered,  the  order  was  given  to 
let  fly  the  topsail-halyards  and  every  other 
necessary  rope,  and  although  the  down-haul- 
tackles,  clewlines,  and  buntlines  were  already 
manned,  in  expectation  of  this  evolution,  we 
succeeded  with  great  difficulty  in  saving  the 
fore  and  main  topsails  ;  but  the  top-gallant- 
sails  were  blown  to  pieces.  All  the  flying- 
kites  went  off  in  a  crack,  whisking  far  away 
to  leeward,  like  dried  forest-leaves  in  autumn. 

"  It  may  be  supposed  that  the  chase  was 
now  completely  over,  and  that  we  had  nothing 
further  to  do  than  take  possession  of  our 
prize.  Not  at  all !  It  was  found  next  to 
impossible  to  board  the  brig,  or  at  least,  it 
seemed  so  dangerous  that  our  captain  was 
unwilling  to  hazard  a  boat  and  crew  till  day- 
light came.  The  privateer,  having  no  sail 
set  to  keep  her  steady,  became  so  unmanage- 
able that  the  sea  made  a  clean  breach  over 
all,  rendering  it  out  of  the  question  to  board 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      29 

heron  the  weather  side.  Nor  was  she  more 
easily  approachable  to  leeward,  where  a 
tangled  network  of  broken  spars,  half-torn 
sails,  shattered  booms,  and  smacking  ropes'- 
ends  formed  such  a  line  of  chevaux-de-frise 
from  the  cathead  to  the  counter,  that  all  at- 
tempts to  get  near  her  on  that  side  were 
useless. 

"The  gale  increased  before  morning  to 
such  a  pitch  that,  as  there  was  still  a  doubt 
if  any  boat  could  live,  the  intention  of  board- 
ing our  prize  was,  of  course,  further  delayed. 
But  wc  took  care  to  keep  close  to  her,  a  lit- 
tle to  windward,  in  order  to  watch  her  pro- 
ceedings as  narrowly  as  possible.  It  did  not 
escape  our  notice,  in  the  meantime,  that  our 
friend  (he  was  no  longer  our  foe,  though  not 
yet  our  prisoner)  went  on  quietly,  even  in 
the  height  of  the  gale,  shifting  his  wound- 
ed yards,  reefing  new  ropes,  and  bending 
fresh  sails.  This  caused  us  to  redouble  our 
vigilance  during  the  morning,  and  the  event 
showed  that  we  had  good  need  for  such 
watchfulness.  About  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  the  brig  having  fallen  a  little  to 
leeward,  and  a  furious  squall   of  wind  and 


30      Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

rain  coming  on  at  the  same  moment,  she 
suddenly  bore  up,  and  set  off  once  more, 
right  before  the  wind.  At  the  height  of  the 
squall  we  totally  lost  sight  of  our  prize  ;  and 
such  a  hubbub  I  hardly  recollect  to  have 
heard  in  my  life  before. 

"  '  Where  is  she  ?'  '  Who  was  looking 
out  ?'  '  Where  did  you  see  her  last .''  and 
a  hundred  similar  questions,  reproaches, 
scolds,  and  the  whole  of  the  ugly  family  of 
oaths,  were  poured  out  in  abundance — some 
on  the  privateer  whose  adroitness  had  thus 
overreached  our  vigilance,  others  upon  those 
who  by  their  neglect  had  given  him  the  op- 
portunity, and  many  imprecations  were  utter- 
ed merely  to  express  the  depth  of  anger  and 
disappointment  at  this  stupid  loss  of  a  good 
thing  which  had  cost  so  much  trouble  to 
catch.  All  this  passed  over  in  the  first 
burst.  Sail  was  made  at  once,  the  topsails, 
close  reefed,  were  sheeted  home  like  light- 
ning, and  off  we  dashed  into  the  thick  of  the 
squall,  in  search  of  our  lost  treasure.  At 
each  mast-head  and  at  every  yard-arm  there 
was  planted  a  lookout  man,  while  the  forecas- 
tle hammock-netting  was  filled  with  volun- 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Militaiy  Life.      3 1 

teer  spy-glasses.  For  about  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  a  dead  silence  reigned  over  the  whole 
ship,  during  which  anxious  interval  every 
eye  was  strained  to  the  utmost,  for  no  one 
knew  exactly  where  to  look.  There  was,  in- 
deed, no  certainty  of  our  not  actually  run- 
ning past  the  privateer,  and  it  would  not 
have  surprised  us  much,  when  the  squall 
cleared  up,  had  we  seen  him  a  mile  or  two 
to  windward,  far  beyond  our  reach.  These 
fears  were  put  an  end  to  by  the  sharp-eyed 
captain  of  the  fore-top,  who  had  perched 
himself  on  the  jib-boom  end,  caUing  out  with 
a  voice  of  the  greatest  glee : 

" '  There  he  goes  !  there  he  goes  !  right 
ahead,  under  his  topsails  and  foresail.' 

"And,  sure  enough,  there  we  saw  him, 
springing  along  from  wave  to  wave,  with  his 
masts  bending  forward  like  reeds,  under  the 
pressure  of  sail  enough  to  have  laid  him  on 
his  beam-ends  had  he  broached  to.  In  such 
tempestuous  weather  a  small  vessel  has  no 
chance  whatever  with  a  frigate  ;  indeed,  we 
could  observe  that,  when  the  little  brig  fell 
between  two  high  seas,  her  foresail  flapped  to 


32      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

the  mast,  fairly  becalmed  by  the  wave  be- 
hind her. 

"  In  a  very  few  minutes  we  were  again 
alongside.  Doubtless  the  Frenchman  thought 
we  were  at  last  going  to  execute  summary 
vengeance  upon  him  for  his  treachery,  as  we 
called  it.  Nothing  daunted,  however,  by  the 
style  in  which  we  bore  down  upon  him,  the 
gallant  commander  of  this  pretty  little  egg- 
shell of  a  vessel  placed  himself  on  the  weath- 
er-quarter, and  with  a  speaking-trumpet  in 
his  hand  indicated  by  gesticulations  a  wish 
to  be  heard  This  could  not  well  be  refused  ; 
and  we  steered  as  close  as  possible,  without 
bringing  the  two  vessels  in  contact  or  risk- 
ing the  entanglement  of  the  yards. 

"  '  I  have  been  compelled  to  bear  up,'  he 
called  out  in  French,  'otherwise  the  brig 
must  have  gone  to  the  bottom.  The  sea 
broke  over  us  in  such  a  way  that  I  have  been 
obliged,  as  you  may  perceive,  to  throw  all 
my  guns,  boats,  and  spars  overboard.  We 
have  now  several  feet  of  water  in  the  hold, 
in  consequence  of  your  shot,  which  you  may 
likewise  observe  has  nearly  destroyed  our 
upper  works.     If,  therefore,  you  oblige  me 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ifc.      3  3 

to  heave  to,  I  cannot  keep  the  vessel  afloat 
one  hour  in  such  weather.' 

"'Will  you  make  no  further  attempt  to 
escape  ?'  asked  the  captain  of  the  Endymion, 

" '  As  yet  I  have  made  none,'  he  replied 
firmly.  '  I  struck  to  you  already — I  am  your 
prize,  and,  feeling  as  a  man  of  honor,  I  do 
not  consider  myself  at  liberty  to  escape, 
even  if  I  had  the  power.  I  bore  up  when 
the  squall  came  on  as  a  matter  of  necessity. 
If  you  will  allow  me  to  run  before  the  wind 
along  with  you,  till  the  weather  moderates, 
you  may  take  possession  of  the  brig  when 
you  please  ;  if  not,  I  must  go  to  the  bottom.' 

"  Such  is  the  substance  of  the  conver- 
sation, very  difficult  to  keep  up  across  the 
tempest,  which  was  now  whistling  at  a  great 
rate.  To  have  brought  the  ships  again  to 
the  wind,  after  what  had  been  said,  would 
have  been  to  imitate  the  celebrated  '  Noya- 
des'  of  Nantes,  for  the  privateer  must  have 
been  swamped  instantly.  Although  we 
distrusted  our  companion,  therefore,  most 
grievously,  we  sailed  along  most  lovingly  to- 
gether, as  if  we  had  been  the  best  possible 
friends,  for  about  sixty  or  seventy  miles. 


3  4      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

"  At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  it  began 
to  moderate,  and  by  midnight  we  succeeded 
in  getting  a  boat  on  board  of  the  prize,  af- 
ter a  run  of  between  three  and  four  hundred 
miles.  Such  is  the  scale  of  nautical  sport ! 
And  where,  I  now  beg  to  ask,  is  the  fox-hunt- 
ing, or  the  piracy,  or  anything  else,  more 
exciting  than  this  noble  game  ? 

"  The  brig  proved  to  be  the  Milan  priva- 
teer, from  St.  Malo,  of  fourteen  guns  and 
eighty  men,  many  of  whom  were  unfortu- 
nately wounded  by  our  shot,  and  several 
were  killed. 

"  The  captain's  name  was  Lepelletier — I 
have  pleasure  in  recording  it — M.  Pierre 
Lepelletier,  of  St.  Malo  ;  and  wherever  he 
goes  I  will  venture  to  say  he  can  meet  no 
braver  or  more  resolute  man  than  himself. 

"  Long  before  he  came  on  board  he  had 
well  earned  the  respect  of  his  captors,  high 
and  low ;  and  his  manners  and  information, 
after  we  became  personally  acquainted  with 
him,  raised  him  still  more  in  general  estima- 
tion. 

"  One  day,  when  I  was  walking  with  him 
lender  the  half-deck,  I  overheard  two  of  the 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.      3  5 

sailmakers  conversing  about  the  chase,  the 
prize,  and  the  prisoners — the  only  topics 
which  occupied  our  thoughts  for  a  week  af- 
terward. These  men  were  repairing  one  of 
the  sails  which  had  been  shot  through  and 
split  during  the  chase.  One  of  them  laid 
down  his  palm  and  needle,  and,  looking 
very  significantly  to  our  side  of  the  deck, 
exclaimed  : 

"  '  I  say.  Bill,  is  it  not  a  pity  that  the 
French  captain  walking  there  is  not  an 
Englishman  V 

"  I  lost  no  time  in  translating  this  obser- 
vation to  the  person  whom  it  most  concerned, 
who  declared  it  was  by  far  the  highest  com- 
pliment he  had  been  honored  with  since  he 
came  on  board  the  Endymion," 


^'1^^_ 


CAPTURE  OF  GENERAL  PRESCOTT. 


N  the  month  of  November,  1776, 
Major-General  Lee  was  surprised 
and  taken  prisoner  by  a  detach- 
ment of  British  troops.  With  a 
view  to  procure  the  exchange  of  that  valua- 
ble officer,  William  Barton,  then  a  major  in 
the  Rhode  Island  line,  in  the  service  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  one  of  the  most 
daring  and  patriotic  soldiers  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, projected  the  bold  and  adventurous  ex- 
pedition which  is  the  subject  of  the  following 
narrative. 

Some  months  elapsed,  after  the  capture  of 
General  Lee,  before  an  opportunity  offered 
of  effecting  the  object  which  Major  Barton 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  military  Life,      ij 

had  in  view.  In  the  month  following  that  of 
the  capture  of  General  Lee,  the  British  took 
possession  of  the  islands  of  Canonicut  and 
Prudence,  in  Narraganset  Bay,  Major  Bar- 
ton was  then  stationed  at  Tiverton,  and  for 
some  months  anxiously  watched  the  motions 
of  the  enemy,  with  but  feeble  prospect  of 
obtaining  the  opportunity  he  desired.  At 
length,  on  the  20th  June,  1777,  a  man  of  the 
name  of  Coffin,  who  made  his  escape  from 
the  British,  was  seized  by  some  of  the  Ame- 
rican troops  and  carried  to  Major  Barton's 
quarters.  Major  Barton  availed  himself  of 
the  opportunity  to  inquire  respecting  the 
disposition  of  the  British  forces.  Coffin,  on 
examination,  stated  that  General  Prescott 
had  established  his  head-quarters  on  the  west 
side  of  Rhode  Island,  and  described  minutely 
the  situation  of  the  house  in  which  he  resid- 
ed, which  he  said  was  owned  by  Mr.  Bering. 
His  account  was  a  few  days  afterward  cor- 
roborated by  a  deserter  from  the  ranks  of 
the  enemy.  Major  Barton  was  now  confirm- 
ed in  his  belief  of  the  practicability  of  cffi-^ct- 
ing  his  favorite  object,  but  serious  obstacles 
were  first  to  be  encountered  and  removed 


3  8       Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ifc. 

Neither  his  troops  nor  their  commander  had 
been  long  inured  to  service,  and  the  intend- 
ed enterprise  was  of  a  nature  as  novel  as  it 
was  hazardous.     Besides,  Major  Barton  was 
aware  that  the  undertaking,  should  it  prove 
unsuccessful,  would  be  pronounced  rash  and 
unadvised,  and  that  non-success,  though  his 
life  should  be  preserved,  would  be  followed  by 
degradation  and  disgrace.     Moreover,  to  in- 
volve, in  the  consequences  of  an  enterprise 
devised    and    undertaken  without   previous 
consultation  with  his  superiors  in  rank,  the 
interest  and  perhaps  the  lives  of  a  portion  of 
his  brave  countrymen,  was  a  subject  that  ex- 
cited reflections  calculated  to  damp  the  ardor 
and  appall  the  courage  of  the  bravest  mind. 
Still,  however,  upon  mature  reflection,  aided 
by  a  consciousness  that  his  only  motive  was 
the  interest  of  his  country,  he  resolved  to  ha- 
zard his  reputation  and  life  in  the  attempt. 

The  regiment  to  which  Major  Barton  was 
attached  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Stan- 
ton, a  respectable  and  wealthy  farmer  in 
Rhode  Island,  who,  in  the  spirit  of  the  times, 
had  abandoned  the  culture  of  his  farm  and 
the  care  of  his  family,  and  put  at  hazard  his 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      39 

property  and  his  life,  in  defence  of  his  coun- 
try. To  this  gentleman  Major  Barton  com- 
municated his  plan,  and  solicited  permission 
to  carry  it  into  execution.  Colonel  Stanton 
readily  authorized  him  "  to  attack  the  enemy 
when  and  where  he  pleased."  Several  officers 
in  the  confidence  of  ]\Iajor  Barton  were  then 
selected  from  the  regiment  for  the  intended 
expedition,  on  whose  abilities  and  bravery 
he  could  rely ;  these  were  Captain  Samuel 
Philips,  Lieutenant  James  Porter,  Lieuten- 
ant Joshua  Babcock,  Ensign  Andrew  Stan- 
ton, and  John  Wilcox.  (Captain  Adams  sub- 
sequently volunteered  his  services,  and  took 
an  active  part  in  the  enterprise.)  These  gen- 
tlemen were  informed  by  Major  Barton  that 
he  had  in  contemplation  an  enterprise  which 
would  be  attended  with  great  personal  ha- 
zard to  him.sclf  and  his  associates,  but  which, 
if  success  attended  it,  would  be  productive 
of  much  advantage  to  the  country.  Its  par- 
ticular object,  he  stated,  would  be  disclosed 
to  them  in  due  time.  It  was  at  their  option 
to  accept  or  decline  his  invitation  to  share 
with  him  in  the  dangers  and,  as  he  trusted, 
in  the  glory  that  would  attend  the  underlak- 


40      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

ing.  The  personal  bravery  of  Major  Barton 
had  been  previously  tested  ;  and  such  were 
the  esteem  and  confidence  which  he  had  ac- 
quired among  the  officers  under  his  com- 
mand, that  without  insisting  upon  a  previous 
explanation  of  his  plans,  his  proposal  was 
immediately  accepted.  Major  Barton  expe- 
rienced more  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  ne- 
cessary number  of  boats,  as  there  were  but 
two  in  the  vicinity.  But  this  difficulty, 
though  it  caused  a  few  days'  delay,  was  at 
length  obviated,  and  five  whale-boats  were 
procured  and  equipped  for  service.  Major 
Barton  had  purposely  postponed  procuring 
the  necessary  number  of  men  until  the  last 
moment,  from  an  apprehension  that  an  ear- 
lier selection  might  excite  suspicion  and  de- 
feat the  object  of  their  enterprise.  Desir- 
ous that  his  little  band  might  be  composed 
entirely  of  volunteers,  the  whole  regiment 
was  now  ordered  upon  parade.  In  a  short 
but  animated  address.  Major  Barton  inform- 
ed the  soldiers  "  that  he  projected  an  expe- 
dition against  the  enemy,  which  could  be  ef- 
fected only  by  the  heroism  and  bravery  of 
those  who  should  attend  him  ;  that  he  de- 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      4 1 

sired  the  voluntary  assistance  of  about  forty 
of  their  number,  and  requested  those  who 
would  hazard  their  lives  in  the  enterprise  to 
advance  two  paces  in  front."     Without  one 
exception  or  a  moment's  hesitation  the  whole 
regiment  advanced.     Major  Barton,  after  be- 
stowing upon  the  troops  the  applause  they 
merited,  and  stating  that  he  required  the  aid 
of  but  a  small  portion  of  their  number,  com- 
menced on  the  right,  and,  passing  along  the 
lines,  selected   from    the   regiment,   to  the 
number  of  thirty-six,  those  who  united  to 
bravery  and  discipline  a  competent  know- 
ledge of  seamanship  for  the  management  of 
the  boats.     Having  thus  obtained  an   ade- 
quate number  of  officers  and  men,  and  every- 
thing being  ready,  the  party,  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1777,  embarked  from  Tiverton  for  Bris- 
tol.   While  crossing  Mount  Hope  Bay,  there 
arose  a  severe  storm  of  thunder  and  rain, 
which  separated  three  boats  from  that  of 
their  commander.     The  boat  containing  Ma- 
jor Barton  and  one  other  arrived  at  Bristol 
soon  after  midnight.     Major  Barton  proceed- 
ed to  the  quarters  of  the  commanding  offi- 
cer, where  he  found  a  deserter  who  had  just 


42      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

made  his  escape  from  the  enemy  at  Rhode 
Island.    From  this  man  he  learned  that  there 
had  been  no  alteration  for  the  last  few  days 
in  the  position  of  the  British.    On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  5th,  the  remaining  boats  having 
arrived,  Major  Barton  with  his  officers  went 
to  Hog  Island,  not  far  distant  from  Bristol, 
and  within  view  of  the  British  encampment 
and  shipping.     It  was  at  this  place  that  he 
disclosed  to  his  officers  the  particular  object 
of  the  enterprise,  his  reasons  for  attempting 
it,  and  the  part  each  was  to  perform.    Upon 
reconnoitring   the  position  of   the   enemy, 
it  was  thought  impracticable,  without  great 
hazard  of  capture,  to  proceed  directly  from 
Bristol  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  British 
general.      It  was  determined,  therefore,  to 
make  Warwick  Neck,  a  place  opposite  to 
the  British  encampment,  but  at  a  greater 
distance  than  Bristol,  the  point  from  which 
they  should  depart  immediately  for  Rhode 
Island.      The  most   inviolable  secrecy  was 
enjoined  upon  his  officers  by  Major  Barton, 
and  the  party  returned  to  Bristol. 

On  the  evening  of  the  6th,  about  nine 
o'clock,  the  little  squadron  again  sailed,  and 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      43 

crossing  Narraganset  Bay,  landed  on  War- 
wick Neck.  On  the  7th,  the  wind,  changing 
to  E.N.E.,  brought  on  a  storm,  and  retarded 
their  plan.  On  the  9th,  the  weather  being 
pleasant,  it  was  determined  to  embark  for  the 
island.  The  boats  were  now  numberned,  and 
the  place  of  every  officer  and  soldier  assign- 
ed. At  9  o'clock  in  the  evening  Major  Bar- 
ton assembled  his  party  around  him,  and  in 
an  address,  in  which  were  mingled  the  feel- 
ings of  the  soldier  and  the  man,  he  disclosed 
to  them  the  object  of  the  enterprise.  He 
did  not  attempt  to  conceal  the  danger  and 
difficulties  that  would  inevitably  attend  the 
undertaking  ;  nor  did  he  forget  to  remind 
them  that,  should  their  efforts  be  followed 
by  success,  they  would  be  entitled  to,  and 
would  receive,  the  grateful  acknowledgments 
of  their  country.  "  It  is  probable,"  said  he, 
"  that  some  of  us  may  not  survive  the  dar- 
ing attempt ;  but  I  ask  you  to  hazard  no 
dangers  which  will  not  be  shared  with  you 
by  your  commander ;  and  I  pledge  you  my 
honor,  that  in  every  difficulty  and  danger  I 
v/ill  take  the  lead."  He  received  the  im- 
mediate and   unanimous   assurance  of  the 


44      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

whole  party,  that  they  would  follow  wher- 
ever their  beloved  commander  should  lead 
them.  Major  Barton  then,  reminding  them 
how  much  the  success  of  the  enterprise 
depended  upon  their  strict  attention  to  or- 
ders, directed  that  each  individual  should 
confine  himself  to  his  particular  seat  in  the 
boat  assigned  him,  and  that  not  a  syllable 
should  be  uttered  by  any  one.  He  instruct- 
ed them,  as  they  regarded  their  character 
as  patriots  and  soldiers,  that  in  the  hour  of 
danger  they  should  be  firm,  collected,  and 
resolved  fearlessly  to  encounter  the  dangers 
and  difficulties  that  might  assail  them.  He 
concluded  by  offering  his  fervent  petition 
to  the  great  King  of  armies,  that  he  would 
*  smile  upon  their  intended  enterprise  and 
crown  it  with  success.  The  whole  party 
now  proceeded  to  the  shore.  Major  Barton 
had  reason  to  apprehend  that  he  might  be 
discovered  in  his  passage  from  the  main  to 
Rhode  Island,  by  some  of  the  ships  of  war 
that  lay  at  a  small  distance  from  the  shore. 
He  therefore  directed  the  commanding  offi- 
cer of  the  port  at  Warwick  Neck,  if  he  heard 
the  report  of  three  distinct  muskets,  to  send 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      45 

the  boats  to  the  north  end  of  Prudence  Is- 
land to  his  aid.  The  whole  party  now  took 
possession  of  the  boats  in  the  manner  direct- 
ed. That  which  contained  Major  Barton 
was  posted  in  front,  with  a  pole  of  about 
ten  feet  long  in  her  stern,  to  the  end  of 
which  was  attached  a  handkerchief,  in  order 
that  his  boat  might  be  distinguished  from 
the  others,  that  none  might  go  before  it. 
In  this  manner  they  proceeded  between 
the  islands  of  Prudence  and  Patience,  in 
order  that  they  might  not  be  seen  by  the 
shipping  of  the  enemy  which  lay  off  against 
Hope  Island.  While  passing  the  north  end 
of  Prudence  Island,  they  heard  from  the 
sentinels  on  board  the  shipping  of  the  enemy 
the  cry  of  "  All's  well."  As  they  approached 
the  shore  of  Rhode  Island,  a  noise  like  the 
running  of  horses  was  heard,  which  threw  a 
momentary  consternation  over  the  minds 
of  the  whole  party,  but  in  strict  conformity 
to  the  orders  issued  not  a  word  was  spoken 
by  any  one.  A  moment's  reflection  satisfied 
Major  Barton  of  the  utter  impossibility  that 
his  designs  could  be  known  by  the  enemy, 
and    he  pushed  boldly  for  the  shore.     Ajv 


46      Tales  of  Naval  ajid  Military  Life. 

prchensive  that  if  discovered  the  enemy 
might  attempt  to  cut  off  his  retreat,  Major 
Barton  ordered  one  man  to  remain  in  each 
boat  and  be  prepared  for  departure  at  a 
moment's  warning.  The  remainder  of  the 
party  landed  without  delay.  The  reflections 
of  Major  Barton  at  this  interesting  moment 
were  of  a  nature  the  most  anxious.  The 
lapse  of  a  few  hours  would  place  him  in  a 
situation  in  the  highest  degree  gratifying 
to  his  ambition,  or  overwhelm  him  in  the 
ruin  in  which  his  rashness  would  involve 
him.  In  the  solemn  silence  of  the  night, 
and  on  the  shores  of  the  enemy,  he  paused 
a  moment  to  consider  a  plan  which  had 
been  projected  and  matured  amidst  the 
bustle  of  a  camp,  and  in  a  place  of  safety. 
The  night  was  excessively  dark,  and,  a 
stranger  to  the  country,  his  sole  reliance 
upon  a  direct  and  expeditious  movement 
to  the  head-quarters  of  the  British  general, 
so  essential  to  success,  rested  upon  the  im- 
perfect information  he  had  acquired  from 
deserters  from  the  enemy !  Should  he  sur- 
prise and  secure  General  Prescott,  he  was 
aware  of  the  difficulties  that  would  attend 

\ 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      47 

his  conveyance  to  the  boat,  as  well  as  the 
probability  of  an  earlydiscovery  of  his  design 
by  the  troops  on  the  island  ;  and  even  should 
he  succeed  in  reaching  the  boats,  it  was  by 
no  means  improbable  that  the  alarm  might 
be  given  to  the  shipping  in  time  to  prevent 
his  retreat.  But,  regardless  of  circumstances, 
which  even  then  would  have  afforded  an  apo- 
logy for  a  hasty  retreat,  he  resolved  at  all 
hazards  to  attempt  the  accomphshment  of 
his  gallant  enterprise. 

To  the  head-quarters  of  General  Prescott, 
about  a  mile  from  the  shore,  the  party,  in 
five  divisions,  now  proceeded  in  silence. 
There  was  a  door  on  the  south,  east,  and 
west  sides  of  the  house  in  which  he  resided. 
The  first  division  was  ordered  to  advance 
upon  the  south  door,  the  second  on  the 
west,  and  the  third  on  the  east,  the  fourth 
to  guard  the  road,  and  the  fifth  to  act  on 
emergencies.  In  their  march  they  passed 
the  guard-house  of  the  enemy  on  their  left, 
and  on  their  right  a  house  occupied  by  a 
company  of  cavalry,  for  the  purpose  of  carry- 
ing with  expedition  the  orders  of  the  gen- 
eral to  remote  parts  of  the  island.     On  ar- 


48       Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

riving  at  the  head-quarters  of  the  enemy, 
as  the  gate  of  the  front  yard  was  opened, 
they  were  challenged  by  the  sentinel  on 
guard.  The  party  was  at  the  distance  of 
about  twenty-five  yards  from  the  sentinel, 
but  a  row  of  trees  partially  concealed  them 
from  his  view,  and  prevented  him  from 
determining  their  number.  No  reply  was 
made  to  the  challenge  of  the  sentinel, 
and  the  party  proceeded  on  in  silence. 
The  sentinel  again  demanded,  "Who 
comes  there .>"  "Friends,"  replied  Barton. 
"Friends,"  said  the  sentinel,  "advance  and 
give  the  countersign." 

Major  Barton,  affecting  to  be  angry,  said 
to  the  sentinel,  who  was  now  near  him, 
"  Confound  you,  we  have  no  countersign — 
have  you  seen  any  rascals  to-night  T  And 
before  the  sentinej  could  determine  the  char- 
acter of  those  who  approached  him.  Major 
Barton  seized  his  musket,  told  him  he  was 
a  prisoner,  and  threatened  in  case  of  noise 
or  resistance  to  put  him  to  instant  death. 
The  poor  fellow  was  so  terrified,  that  upon 
being  demanded  if  his  general  was  in  the 
house,  he  was  for  some  time  unable  to  give 


Tales  of  Naval  ajid  3Tilitaiy  Life.      49 

any  answer.  At  length,  in  a  faltering  voice, 
he  replied  that  he  was.  By  this  time  each 
division  having  taken  its  station,  the  south 
door  was  burst  open  by  the  direction  of 
Major  Barton,  and  the  division  there  station- 
ed, with  their  commander  at  their  head, 
rushed  into  the  head-quarters  of  the  general. 
At  this  critical  moment  one  of  the  British 
soldiers  effected  his  escape,  and  fled  to  the 
quarters  of  the  main  guard.  This  man  had 
no  article  of  clothing  upon  him  but  a  shirt, 
and  having  given  the  alarm  to  the  sentinel 
on  duty,  passed  on  to  the  quarters  of  the 
cavalry,  which  was  more  remote  from  the 
head-quarters  of  the  general.  The  sentinel 
roused  the  main  guard,  who  were  instantly 
in  arms,  and  demanded  the  cause  of  the 
alarm.  He  stated  the  information  which 
had  been  given  him  by  the  soldier,  which 
appeared  so  incredible  to  the  sergeant  of 
the  guard,  that  he  insisted  he  had  seen  a 
ghost.  The  sentinel,  to  whom  the  account 
of  his  general's  capture  appeared  quite  as 
incredible  as  to  his  commanding  officer, 
admitted  that  the  messenger  was  clothed  in 
white ;  and  after  submitting  to  the  jokes  of 


50      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

his  companions  as  a  punishment  for  his 
creduhty,  was  ordered  to  resume  his  station, 
while  the  remainder  of  the  guard  retired  to 
their  quarters.  It  was  fortunate  for  Major 
Barton  and  his  brave  followers  that  the 
alarm  given  by  the  soldier  was  considered 
groundless.  Had  the  main  guard  proceeded 
without  delay  to  the  relief  of  their  command- 
ing general,  his  rescue  certainly,  and  pro- 
bably the  destruction  of  the  party,  would 
have  been  the  consequence. 

The  first  room  Major  Barton  entered  was 
occupied  by  Mr.  Bering,  who  positively  de- 
nied that  General  Brescott  was  in  his  house. 
He  next  entered  the  room  of  his  son,  who 
was  equally  obstinate  with  his  father  in  de- 
nying that  the  general  was  there.  Major 
Barton  then  proceeded  to  other  apartments, 
but  was  still  disappointed  in  the  object  of 
his  search.  Aware  that  longer  delay  might 
defeat  the  object  of  his  enterprise,  Major 
Barton  resorted  to  stratagem  to  facilitate  his 
search.  Blacing  himself  on  the  landing  of 
the  stairs,  and  declaring  his  resolution  to 
secure  the  general  dead  or  alive,  he  ordered 
his  soldiers  to  set  fire  to  the  house.     The 


Talcs  of  Naval  aiid  Military  L  ife.      5 1 

soldiers  were  preparing  to  execute  his  orders, 
when  a  voice,  which  Major  Barton  at  once 
suspected  to  be  the  general's,  demanded 
what  was  the  matter.  Major  Barton  rushed 
to  the  apartment  whence  the  voice  pro- 
ceeded, and  discovered  an  elderly  man  just 
rising  from  his  bed,  and,  clapping  his  hands 
upon  his  shoulder,  demanded  of  him  if  he 
was  General  Prescott.  He  answered,  "  Yes, 
sir."  "  You  are  my  prisoner,  then,"  said  Ma- 
jor Barton.  "  I  acknowledge  that  I  am," 
said  the  general.  In  a  moment  General 
Prescott  found  himself,  half-dressed,  in  the 
arms  of  the  soldiers,  who  hurried  him  from 
the  house.  In  the  meantime  Major  Barring- 
to'n,  the  aide-de-camp  to  General  Prescott, 
discovering  that  the  house  was  attacked  by 
the  rebels,  as  they  were  termed,  leaped  out 
of  the  window  of  his  bed-chamber,  and  was 
immediately  made  prisoner.  General  Pres- 
cott, supported  by  Major  Barton  and  one  of 
his  officers,  and  attended  by  Major  Barring- 
ton  and  the  sentinel,  proceeded,  surrounded 
by  soldiery,  to  the  shore.  Upon  seeing  the 
five  little  boats,  General  Prescott,  who  knew 
the  position  of  the  British  shipping,  appear- 


52      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Militaiy  Life. 

ed  much  confused,  and,  turning  to  Major 
Barton,  inquired  if  he  commanded  the  party. 
On  being  informed  that  he  did,  he  expressed 
a  hope  that  no  personal  injury  was  intended 
him,  and  Major  Barton  assured  the  general 
of  his  protection  while  he  remained  under 
his  control. 

The  general  had  travelled  from  head-quar- 
ters to  the  shore  in  his  waistcoat,  small 
clothes,  and  slippers.  A  moment  was  now 
allowed  him  to  complete  his  dress,  while  the 
party  were  taking  possession  of  the  boats. 
The  general  was  placed  in  the  boat  with 
Major  Barton,  and  they  proceeded  toward 
the  sea. 

They  had  not  got  far  from  the  island, 
when  the  discharge  of  cannon  and  three  sky- 
rockets gave  the  signal  of  alarm.  It  was  for- 
tunate for  the  party  that  the  enemy  on 
board  the  shipping  were  ignorant  of  the 
cause  of  it,  as  they  might  easily  have  cut  off 
their  retreat.  The  signal  of  alarm  e.xcited 
the  apprehensions  of  Major  Barton  and  his 
brave  associates,  and  redoubled  their  exer- 
tions to  reach  the  place  of  their  destination 
before  they  could  be  discovered.    They  sue- 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.      5  3 

cecded,  and  soon  after  daybreak  landed  at 
Warwick  Neck,  near  the  point  of  their  de- 
parture, after  an  absence  of  six  hours  and  a 
half 

General  Prescott  turned  toward  the 
island,  and  observing  the  ships  of  war,  re- 
marked to  Major  Barton,  "  Sir,  you  have 
made  a  bold  push  to-night."  "  We  have  been 
fortunate,"  replied  the  hero.  An  express 
was  immediately  sent  forward  to  Major- 
General  Spencer,  at  Providence,  communi- 
cating the  success  which  had  attended  the 
enterprise.  Not  long  afterward  a  coach  ar- 
rived, which  had  been  despatched  by  Gene- 
ral Spencer  to  convey  General  Prescott  and 
his  aide-de-camp  prisoners  to  Providence. 
They  were  accompanied  by  Major  Barton, 
who  related  to  General  Spencer,  on  their  ar- 
rival, the  particulars  of  the  enterprise,  and 
received  from  that  officer  the  most  grateful 
acknowledgments  for  the  signal  services  he 
had  rendered  his  country. 


THE  LOSS  OF  THE  ROYAL  GEORGE, 


SUNK  AT  SPITHEAD,  AUGUST  29,  1782. 


HIS  memorable  calamity  occurred 
during  the  last  year  of  the  Ameri- 
can war.  Great  Britain  having  at 
that  time  to  contend  not  only  with 
her  revolted  colonies,  but  also  with  the  united 
forces  of  France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  it  was 
found  necessary  to  put  as  many  ships  as  pos- 
sible to  sea.  The  practice  of  coppering  having 
at  that  time  come  only  partially  into  use,  it 
was  often  needful  to  examine  and  repair  such 
parts  of  vessels  as  are  usually  under  water  ; 
and  in  order  to  do  this,  the  Royal  George 
had  to  be  laid  to  a  certain  degree  on  her  side. 
On  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  August,  the 
water  being  very  smooth  and  the  weather 
calm,  some  carpenters  from  the  dockyard  at 


Tales  of  Naval  and  j\Iilitayy  Life.      5  5 

Portsmouth  attended  to  assist  those  belong- 
ing to  the  ship.  Admiral  Kempenfelt  was 
on  board  ;  and  the  order  for  the  fleet,  for  the 
relief  of  Gibraltar,  was  expected  in  a  day  or 
two.  On  examination,  repairs  were  required 
lower  down  than  was  at  first  expected  ;  and 
it  was  necessary  to  take  out  and  replace  the 
water-cock  by  which  the  sea-water  is  ad- 
mitted into  the  hold  of  the  ship,  whence  it 
is  pumped  up  to  wash  the  decks.  To  get 
at  this  water-cock,  the  ship  had  to  be  heeled 
on  her  side,  so  as  to  raise  it  above  the  water. 
This  was  done  by  driving  all  the  guns  and 
ballast  as  much  as  possible  to  one  side  of 
the  ship,  by  which  the  water  came  to  be  ^ 
nearly  on  a  level  with  the  port-holes  on  tlie 
left  side  of  the  lower  gun-deck.  But  there 
would  have  been  no  danger,  had  it  not  been 
for  some  accidental  circumstances.  The 
ship,  as  is  usually  the  case  in  coming  into 
port,  was  crowded  with  people  from  the 
shore,  particularly  with  women,  of  whom 
there  were  nearly  300  on  board.  Many  of 
the  wives  and  children  of  the  seamen  and 
petty  officers,  knowing  that  it  was  soon  to 
sail,  had  taken  this  opportunity  of  coming  to 


5  6      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Militaiy  L  ife. 

see   their  husbands    and  fathers.     Between 
800  and  900  of  the  crew,  inckiding  marines, 
were  also  on  board  ;  hence  the  tendency  to 
overset  was  much  increased  by  the  weight 
of  such  a  number   of  people.     About   ten 
o'clock   in  the  morning,  while   the   admiral 
was  engaged  in  writing  in  his  cabin,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  people  were  between  the 
decks,  the  ship  was  thrown  so  much  upon 
her  side,  that  the  water  rushed  into  her  gun- 
ports  with  such  an  overpowering  force  *that 
she  almost  instantly  filled  and  sank.     The 
shipping  at  Spithead— about  forty  sail  of  the 
line,  many   frigates,  etc.,  and   two   or   three 
hundred  merchant-vessels— were  riding    to 
the  flood-tide  ;  so  there  was  no  want  of  as- 
sistance.    Boats  innumerable,  with  wind  and 
tide  in  their  favor,  were  soon  on  the  spot  ; 
but,  alas !  too  late  ;  those  who  could  swim' 
were  drowned  by  those  who  could  not ;  and 
a  few  days  after,  numbers  were  seen  floating 
about  Spithead,  five  or  six  together,  clasped 
in  each  other's  arms.     It  is  calculated  that 
nearly  a  thousand  men,  women,  and  children 
lost    their   lives,  and  only  300  were   saved. 
A   few  years   since,  a   short   narrative  was 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.      5  7 

written  by  a  worthy  old  man,  Mr.  James  In- 
gram, who  was  on  board  the  ship  at  the 
time  of  this  fearful  calamity,  and  then  about 
twenty-four  years  of  age.  The  following  is 
an  extract : 

He  says:  "At  about  nine  o'clock,  or 
rather  before — we  had  just  finished  our 
breakfast — a  sloop,  with  rum  on  board,  had 
come  alongside.  This  vessel  belonged  to 
three  brothers,  who  used  her  to  carry  things 
on  board  the  men-of-war.  She  was  lashed 
to  the  side  of  the  Royal  George.  I  was  in 
the  waist  of  our  ship,  bearing  the  rum-casks 
over,  as  some  men  of  the  Royal  George 
were  aboard  the  sloop  to  sling  them.  At 
first,  no  danger  was  apprehended,  though 
the  water  kept  dashing  in  at  the  port-holes 
at  every  wave  ;  and  there  being  mice  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  ship,  which  were  disturbed 
by  the  water  which  dashed  in,  they  were 
hunted  in  the  water  by  the  men,  and  there 
had  been  a  rare  game  going  on.  However, 
by  a  little  after  nine  o'clock,  the  additional 
quantity  of  rum  on  board  the  ship,  and  also 
the  quantity  of  sca-watcr  which  had  dashed 
in,  brought  the  port-holes  of  the  lower  gun- 


58      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

deck  nearly  level  with  the  sea.  As  soon  as 
that  was  the  case,  the  carpenter  went  on  the 
quarter-deck  to  the  lieutenant  of  the  watch, 
to  ask  him  to  give  orders  to  right  ship. 
However,  the  lieutenant  made  him  a  very 
short  answer,  and  the  carpenter  then  went 
below.  The  captain's  name  was  Waghorn  : 
he  was  on  board,  but  where  he  was  I  do  not 
know  ;  however,  captains,  if  anything  is  to 
be  done  when  the  ship  is  in  harbor,  seldom 
interfere,  but  leave  it  all  to  the  officers  of  the 
watch.  The  lieutenant  was,  if  I  remember 
right,  the  third  lieutenant ;  he  had  not  joined 
us  long ;  his  name  I  do  not  recollect ;  he 
was  a  good-sized  man,  between  thirty  and 
forty  years  of  age  ;  the  men  called  him  '  Jib- 
and-foresail-Jack  ;'  for,  if  he  had  the  watch  in 
the  night,  he  would  always  be  bothering  the 
men  to  alter  the  sails  ;  and  it  was  '  up  jib* 
and  'down  jib,'  and  'up  foresail'  and  'down 
foresail,'  every  minute.  Altogether  the  men 
considered  him  more  of  a  troublesome  officer 
than  a  good  one  ;  and,  from  a  habit  he  had 
of  moving  his  fingers  about  when  walking 
the  quarter-deck,  they  used  to  say  he  was 
an  organ-player  from  London.    The  admiral 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      59 

was  either  in  his  cabin  or  in  his  steerage ; 
and  the  barber,  who  had  been  to  shave  him, 
had  just  left  him.  Kempenfelt  was  a  man 
of  upward  of  seventy  years  of  age,  a  tall, 
thin  man,  who  stooped  a  good  deal. 

"As  I  have  already  said,  the  carpenter  left 
the  deck  and  went  below.  In  a  very  short 
time  he  came  up,  and  again  asked  the  lieu- 
tenant of  the  watch  to  right  ship,  saying  the 
ship  could  not  bear  it ;  but  the  lieutenant 
replied,  '  If  you  can  manage  the  ship  better 
than  I  can,  you  had  better  take  the  com- 
mand.' Myself  and  a  good  many  more 
heard  what  passed,  and  knew  the  danger. 
Wc  began  to  feel  ourselves  aggrieved,  for 
there  were  some  capital  seamen  on  board. 
In  a  very  short  time — in  a  minute  or  two,  I 
should  think — the  lieutenant  ordered  the 
drummer  to  be  called  to  right  ship.  The 
drummer  was  called  in  a  moment ;  but  the 
ship  was  then  just  beginning  to  sink.  There 
was  no  time  for  him  to  beat  his  drum,  and 
I  do  not  know  that  he  had  even  time  to  get 
it.  I  ran  down  to  my  station  ;  and  by  the 
time  I  got  there,  the  men  were  tumbling 
down  the  hatchways,  one  over  another,  to  get 


6o      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Militaiy  L  ifc. 

to  their  stations  as  quick  as  possible  to  right 
the  ship.      I  said  to  the  Heutenant  of  our 
gun,  whose  name  was   Corvell,   (for   every 
gun  has  a  captain  and  a  lieutenant,  though 
they  are  only  sailors,)  '  Let  us  try  to  boule 
our  gun  out,  without  waiting  for  the  drum, 
as  it  will  help  to  right  ship.'     We  pushed 
the  gun,  but  it  ran  back  upon  us.     The  wa- 
ter then  rushed  in  at  nearly  all  the  port- 
holes on  the  larboard  side  ;  and  I  said  direct- 
ly to  Corvell,  '  Ned,  lay  hold  of  the  ring-bolt, 
and  jump  out  of  the  port-hole :  the  ship  is 
sinking,  and  we  shall  all  be  drowned.'     He 
did  so ;  and  I  believe  he  was  drowned,  for  I 
never   saw  him    afterward.      I  immediately 
jumped  out  of  the  same  port-hole  ;  and  when 
I  had  done  so,  I  saw  it  as  full  of  heads  as  it 
could  cram,  all  trying  to  get  out.     I  caught 
hold  of  the  best  bower  anchor,  which  was 
just  above  me,  and  seized  hold  of  a  woman 
who  was  trying  to  get  out  of  that  same  port- 
hole.    I  dragged  her  out,  and  just  after  that 
the  air  between  decks  drafted  out  of  the 
port-holes  very  swiftly,  and  it  blew  my  hat 
off.     The  ship  than  sank  in  a  moment.     I 
tried  to  swim,  but  the  sinking  of  the  ship 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.      6 1 

drew  me  down  so  that  I  could  not :  indeed, 
I  think  I  must  have  gone  down  within  a 
yard  as  low  as  the  ship  did.  When  the  ship 
touched  the  bottom,  the  water  boiled  up  a 
great  deal ;  and  then  I  felt  that  I  could 
swim,  and  began  to  rise.  At  the  time  the 
ship  was  sinking,  there  was  a  barrel  of  tar 
on  the  deck  that  had  rolled  and  staved  as 
the  ship  went  down  ;  and  when  I  rose  to 
the  top  of  the  water  the  tar  was  floating  like 
fat  on  the  top  of  a  boiler,  and  got  about  my 
hair  and  face.  I  heard  the  cannon  on  shore 
firing  for  distress;  I  looked  about  me,  and 
at  the  distance  of  eight  or  ten  yards  I  saw 
the  main-topsail-halyard  block  above  water: 
the  water  was  about  thirteen  fathoms  deep' 
then,  the  tide  coming  in.  I  swam  and  got 
upon  the  sail-block,  and  there  I  rode.  The 
fore,  main,  and  mizzcn  tops  were  all  above 
water.  I  saw  the  admiral's  baker  in  the 
shrouds  of  the  mizzen  topmast ;  and  directly 
after  that,  the  woman  whom  I  had  pulled 
out  of  the  port-hole  came  rolling  by.  I 
called  to  the  baker,  '  Bob,  stretch  out  your 
hand,  and  catch  hold  of  that  woman.'  He 
caught  hold  of  her,  and  put  her  head  over 


'62      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

one  of  the  shrouds,  and  there  she  hung  by 
her  chin.     A  captain  of  a  frigate  which  was 
lying   at   Spithcad  came  up  as  fast  as  he 
could.    I  dashed  out  my  left  hand  in  a  direc- 
tion toward  the  woman,  as  a  sign  to  him  :  he 
saw  it,  and  saw  the  woman  :  his  men  left  off 
rowing,  and  they  pulled  the  woman  aboard 
the  boat.      The  captain  of  the  frigate  called 
out  to  me,  '  My  man,  I  must  take  care  of 
those  who  are  in  more  danger  than  you  are.' 
I  said,  '  I  am  safely  moored  now,  sir.'    There 
was  a  seaman  named  Hibbs  hanging  by  his 
two  hands  from  the  mainstay;    and  as  he 
hung,  the  sea  washed  over  him  every  now 
and  then  as  much  as  a  yard  deep,  and  when 
he  saw  it  coming  he  roared  out ;  however, 
he  was  but  a  fool  for  that ;  for,  if  he  had 
kept  himself  quiet,  he  would  not  have  wast- 
ed his  strength,  and  would  have  been  able 
to  take  the  chance  of  holding  on  so  much 
the  longer.     The  captain  of  the  frigate  had 
the  boat  rowed  to  the  mainstay ;  but  they 
got  the  stay  over  part  of  the  head  of  the 
boat,  and  were  in  great  danger  before  they 
got  Hibbs  on  board.     They  then  got  all  the 
men  that  were  in  different  parts  of  the  rig- 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      63 

ging,  including  the  baker  and  myself,  and 
took  us  on  board  the  Victory,  where  the 
doctors  recovered  the  woman  ;  but  she  was 
very  ill  for  three  or  four  days.  On  board 
the  Victory  I  saw  the  body  of  the  carpen- 
ter ;  he  was  then  quite  dead.  The  captain 
of  the  Royal  George,  who  could  not  swim, 
was  picked  up  and  saved  by  one  of  our  sea- 
men. The  lieutenant  of  the  watch,  I  be- 
lieve, 'was  drowned.  I  believe  that,  if  the 
lieutenant  of  the  watch  had  given  the  order 
to  right  ship  only  two  minutes  earlier,  no- 
thing amiss  would  have  happened." 

Among  many  remarkable  escapes,  two 
may  be  mentioned  of  children.  Captain 
Crisps  was  a  midshipman  of  the  quarter- 
deck watch  at  the  moment  of  the  accident, 
and  escaped  by  swimming.  He  was  but 
nine  years  old  at  that  time,  and  so  small  in 
stature  that,  when  about  being  examined 
before  the  court-martial  which  sat  to  inquire 
into  the  circumstances  of  this  lamentable 
event,  one  of  the  members  of  the  court  lifted 
him  with  one  hand  on  the  table,  and  said, 
"  Now,  my  lad,  you  can  be  seen  ;  speak  up, 
and  boldly  ;  for  from  this  moment  you  arc 


64      Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

an  adopted  son  of  the  British  navy."    At  the 
end  of  twenty-eight   years  from  that  day. 
John  Crisps  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
post-captain.,  and  is  still  on  the  half-pay  list. 
Lately,  speaking  of  the  exertions  of  Captain 
Pasley  to  raise  the  Royal  George,  Captain 
Crisps  said,  with  some  earnestness,  "  I  wish 
he  may  fish  up  my  chest,  for  there  are  twen- 
ty-two guineas  and  two  half-guineas  in  it." 
A  poor  little  child  was  almost  miraculously 
preserved  by  a  sheep,  which  swam  with  him 
for  some  time,  the  little  fellow  holding  by  its 
fleece ;  he  was  taken  up  by  a  gentleman  in 
a   wherry.       His  father   and    mother   were 
drowned,  and  the  boy  did  not  know  their 
names  ;  all  that  he  knew  was  that  his  own 
name  was   Jack;   so   they   christened   him 
John  Lamb,  and  the  gentleman  took  care  of 
him.     The  masts  of  the  Royal  George  re- 
mained standing   out  of  water  for  several 
years    afterward;    and    some   parts   of  her 
deck,  before  being  covered  with  sand,  could 
sometimes  be  indistinctly  seen  at  low  water. 
Several  unsuccessful   attempts  were  made, 
at  different  times,  to  raise  the  vessel,  and 
persons  would  go  down  in  diving-bells  to 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      65 

find  all  they  could.  At  length,  in  the  months 
of  May  and  June,  1840,  Captain  Pasley  suc- 
ceeded, by  means  of  gunpowder,  in  tearing 
the  wreck  asunder,  and  so  bringing  up  to 
the  surface  of  the  water  the  long-buried  re- 
mains of  the  Royal  George. 


r^M 

1 

j3| 

?9R^ff^^^[ 

^ 

1^ 

^E'-^  ■ 

^.{^2 

W  fil^M  v^^^^^^SS^ 

m 

1^ 

A  GLIMPSE  OF  DETROIT. 


HE  position  of  Detroit  is  one  of 
the  finest  imaginable.  It  is  on 
a  strait  between  Lake  Erie  and 
Lake  St.  Clair,  commanding  the 
Avhole  internal  commerce  of  these  great 
"  successive  seas." 

The  origin  of  the  city  was  a  little  pali- 
saded fort,  erected  here,  in  1702,  by  the 
French  under  La  Mote  Cadillac,  to  defend 
their  fur  trade.  It  was  then  called  Fort 
Pontchartrain.  From  this  time  till  1760  it 
remained  in  possession  of  the  French,  and 
continued  to  increase  slowly.  So  late  as 
1721,  Charlevoix  speaks  of  the  vast  herds  of 
buffaloes  ranging  the  plains  west  of  the  city. 
INIeantime,  under  the  protection  of  the  fort. 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      6/ 

the  settlement  and  cultivation  of  the  neigh- 
boring districts  went  on,  in  spite  of  the  at- 
tacks of  some  of  the  neighboring  tribes  of 
Indians,  particularly  the  Outagamies,  who, 
with  the  Iroquois,  seem  to  have  been  the 
only  decided  and  irreconcilable  enemies 
whom  the  French  found  in  this  province. 
The  capture  of  Quebec  and  the  death  of 
Wolfe  being  followed  by  the  cession  of  the 
whole  of  the  French  territory  in  North  Ame- 
rica to  the  power  of  Great  Britain,  Detroit, 
with  all  the  other  trading-posts  in  the  West, 
was  given  up  to  the  English.  It  is  curious 
that  the  French  submitted  to  this  change 
of  masters  more  easily  than  the  Indians,  who 
were  by  no  means  inclined  to  exchange  the 
French  for  the  English  alliance.  "  What- 
ever may  have  been  the  cause,"  says  Gover- 
nor Cass,  "  the  fact  is  certain,  that  there  is 
in  the  French  character  a  peculiar  adapta- 
tion to  the  habits  and  feelings  of  the  Indians  ; 
and  to  this  day  the  period  of  French  domi- 
nation is  the  era  of  all  that  is  happy  in  Indian 
reminiscences." 

The   conciliating  manners  of  the  French 
toward  the  Indians,  and  the  judgment  with 


6S      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

which  they  managed  all  their  intercourse 
with  them,  have  had  a  permanent  effect  on 
the  minds  of  those  tribes  who  were  in  friend- 
ship with  them.  At  this  day,  if  the  British 
are  generally  preferred  to  the  Americans,  the 
French  are  always  preferred  to  cither.  A 
Chippewa  chief,  addressing  the  American 
agent  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  so  late  as  1826, 
thus  fondly  referred  to  the  period  of  the 
French  dominion  :  "  When  the  Frenchmen 
arrived  at  these  falls,  they  came  and  kissed 
us.  They  called  us  children,  and  we  found 
them  fathers.  We  lived  like  brethren  in  the 
same  lodge,  and  we  had  always  wherewithal 
to  clothe  us.  They  never  mocked  at  our 
ceremonies,  and  they  never  molested  the 
places  of  our  dead.  Seven  generations  of 
men  have  passed  away,  but  we  have  not  for- 
gotten it.  Just,  very  just,  were  they  toward 
us ! 

The  discontent  of  the  Indian  tribes  upon 
the  transfer  of  the  forts  and  trading-posts 
into  the  possession  of  the  British,  showed 
itself  early,  and  at  length  gave  rise  to  one  of 
the  most  prolonged  and  savage  of  all  the  In- 
dian wars,  that  of  Pontiac,  in  1763. 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life,      69 

Of  this  Pontiac  you  have  read,  no  doubt, 
in  various  books  of  travels  and  anecdotes 
of  Indian  chiefs.  But  it  is  one  thing  to 
read  of  these  events  by  your  fireside,  where 
the  features  of  the  scene — the  forest  wilds 
echoing  to  the  war-whoop,  the  painted  war- 
riors, the  very  words  scalping,  tomahawk- 
ing— bring  no  definite  meaning  to  the  mind, 
only  a  vague  horror  ;  and  quite  another 
thing  to  recall  them  here  on  the  spot,  ar- 
rayed in  all  their  dread  yet  picturesque 
reality.  Pontiac  is  the  hero  par  excellence  oi 
all  these  regions  ;  and  in  all  the  histories  of 
Detroit,  when  Detroit  becomes  a  great  capi- 
tal of  the  West,  he  will  figure  like  Caractacus 
or  Arminius  in  the  Roman  history.  The 
English  contemporaries  call  him  king  and 
emperor  of  the  Indians  ;  but  there  is  abso- 
lutely no  sovereignty  among  these  people. 
Pontiac  was  merely  a  war-chief,  chosen  in 
the  usual  way,  but  exercising  a  more  than 
usual  influence,  not  by  mere  bravery — the 
universal  savage  virtue — but  by  talents  of  a 
rarer  kind  ;  a  power  of  reflection  and  com- 
bination rarely  met  with  in  the  character  of 
the  red  warrior.     Pontiac  was  a  man  of  gcni- 


70      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

us,  and  would  have  ruled  his  fellow-men  un- 
der any  circumstances  and  in  any  country. 
He  formed  a  project  similar  to  that  which 
Tecumsch  entertained  fifty  years  later.  He 
united  all  the  North-Western  tribes  of  Otta- 
was,  Chippewas,  and  Pottawattomies,  in  one 
great  confederacy  against  the  British,  "  the 
dogs  in  red  coats  ;"  and  had  very  nearly 
caused  the  overthrow,  at  least  the  temporary 
overthrow,  of  their  power.  He  had  planned  a 
simultaneous  attack  on  all  the  trading-posts 
in  the  possession  of  the  English,  and  so  far 
succeeded  that  ten  of  these  forts  were  sur- 
prised about  the  same  time,  and  all  the  En- 
glish soldiers  and  traders  massacred,  while 
the  French  were  spared.  Before  any  tidings 
of  these  horrors  and  outrages  could  reach 
Detroit,  Pontiac  was  there  in  friendly  guise, 
and  all  his  measures  admirably  arranged  for 
taking  this  fort  also  by  stratagem  and  mur- 
dering every  Englishman  within  it.  All  had 
been  lost,  if  a  poor  Indian  woman,  who  had 
received  much  kindness  from  the  family  of 
the  commandant  (Major  Gladwyn)  had  not 
revealed  the  danger.  I  do  not  yet  quite  un- 
derstand why  Major  Gladwyn,  on  the  discov- 


Tales  of  Naval  and  ]\Iilitajy  Life,      y  i 

ery  of  Pontiac's  treachery,  and  having  him  in 
his  power,  did  not  make  him  and  his  whole 
band  prisoners.  Such  a  stroke  would  have 
ended,  or  rather  it  would  have  prevented,  the 
war.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  Ma- 
jor Gladwyn  was  ignorant  of  the  systematic 
plan  of  extermination  adopted  by  Pontiac  ; 
the  news  of  the  massacres  at  the  upper  forts 
had  not  reached  him  ;  he  knew  of  nothing 
but  the  attempt  on  himself,  and  ft-om  motives 
of  humanity  or  magnanimity  he  suffered 
them  to  leave  the  fort  and  go  free.  No  soon- 
er were  they  on  the  outside  of  the  palisades, 
than  they  set  up  the  war-yell  "  like  so  many 
devils,"  as  a  bystander  expressed  it,  and  turn- 
ed and  discharged  their  rifles  on  the  garrison. 
The  war,  thus  savagely  declared,  was  accom- 
panied by  all  those  atrocious  barbarities,  and 
turns  of  fate,  and  traits  of  heroism,  and 
hair-breadth  escapes,  which  render  these 
Indian  conflicts  so  exciting,  so  terrific,  so 
picturesque. 

Detroit  was  in  a  state  of  siege  by  the  In- 
dians for  twelve  months,  and  gallantly  and 
successfully  defended  by  Major  Gladwyn,  till 
relieved  by  General  Bradstrcct, 


72      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

The  first  time  I  was  able  to  go  out,  my 
good-natured  landlord  drove  me  himself  in 
his  buggy  wagon,  with  as  much  atten- 
tion and  care  for  my  comfort  as  if  I  had 
been  his  near  relation.  ■  The  evening  was 
glorious  ;  the  sky  perfectly  Italian — a  genu- 
ine Claude  Lorraine  sky  ;  that  beautiful,  in- 
tense amber  light  reaching  to  the  very  ze- 
nith, while  the  purity  and  transparent  love- 
liness of  the  atmospheric  effects  carried  me 
back  to  Italy  and  times  long  past.  I  felt  it 
all,  as  people  feel  things  after  a  sharp  fit  of 
indisposition,  when  the  nervous  system,  lan- 
guid at  once  and  sensitive,  thrills  and  trem- 
bles to  every  breath  of  air.  As  we  drove 
slowly  and  silently  along,  we  came  to  a  slug- 
gish, melancholy-looking  rivulet,  to  which  the 
man  pointed  with  his  whip.  "  I  expect," 
said  he,  "  you  know  all  about  the  battle  of 
the  Bloody  Run  i"' 

I  was  obliged  to  confess  my  ignorance, 
not  without  a  slight  shudder  at  the  hateful, 
ominous  name,  which  sounded  in  my  ear  like 
an  epitome  of  all  imaginable  horrors. 

This  was  the  scene  of  a  night  attack  made 
by  three  hundred  British  upon  the  camp  of 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      73 

the  Indians,  who  were  then  besieging  De- 
troit. The  Indians  had  notice  of  their  in- 
tention, and  prepared  an  ambush  to  receive 
them.  They  had  just  reached  the  bank  of 
this  rivulet,  when  the  Indian  foe  fell  upon 
them  suddenly.  They  fought  hand  to  hand, 
bayonet  and  tomahawk,  in  the  darkness  of 
the  night.  Before  the  English  could  extri- 
cate themselves,  seventy  men  and  most  of 
the  officers  fell  and  were  scalped  on  the  spot. 
"  ThCYn  Indians,"  said  my  informant,  "  fought 
like  brutes  and  devils,"  {as  most  men  do,  I 
thought,  who  fight  for  revenge  and  existence,) 
"  and  they  say  the  creek  here,  when  morning 
came,  ran  red  with  blood  ;  and  so  they  call 
it  the  Bloody  Run." 

As  they  have  called  Tecumseh  the  Indian 
Napoleon,  they  might  style  Pontiac  the  In- 
dian Alexander.  Here,  for  instance,  is  a 
touch  of  magnanimity  quite  in  the  Alexan- 
der the  Great  style.  Pontiac,  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war,  had  provided  for  the 
safety  of  a  liritish  officer.  Major  Rogers  by 
name,  who  was  afterward  employed  to  re- 
lieve Detroit  when  besieged  by  the  Indians. 
On  this  occasion   he  sent  Pontiac  a  bottle 


74      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

of  brandy,  to  show  he  had  not  forgotten  his 
former  obligations  to  him.  Those  who  were 
around  the  Indian  warrior  when  the  present 
arrived,  particularly  some  Frenchmen,  warn- 
ed him  not  to  taste  it,  as  it  might  be  poison- 
ed. Pontiac  instantly  took  a  draught  from  it, 
saying,  as  he  put  the  bottle  to  his  lips,  that 
•"  it  was  not  in  the  power  of  Major  Rogers  to 
hurt  him  who  had  so  lately  saved  his  life."  I 
think  this  story  is  no  unworthy  pendant  to 
that  of  Alexander  and  his  physician.  . 


M 
& 


A  SKIRMISH  OFF  BERMUDA. 


HE  evening  was  closing  in  dark 
and  rainy,  with  every  appearance  of 
a  gale  from  the  westward,  and  the 
weather  had  become  so  thick  and 
boisterous  that  the  lieutenant  of  the  watch 
had  ordered  the  lookout  at  the  mast-head 
down  on  the  deck.  The  man  on  his  way 
down  had  gone  into  the  main-top  to  bring 
away  some  things  he  had  left  in  going  aloft, 
and  was  in  the  act  of  leaving  it,  when  he 
sang  out,  "  A  sail  on  the  weather-bow !" 
"  What  does  she  look  like  ?"  "  Can't  rightly 
say,  sir ;  she  is  in  the  middle  of  the  thick 
weather  to  windward."  "  Stay  where  you 
arc  a  little.  Jenkins,  jump  forward,  and  see 
what  you  can  make  of  her  from  the  fore- 


^6      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

yard."     Whilst  the  topman  was  obeying  his 
instructions,  the  lookout  again  hailed  :  "  She 
is  a  ship,  sir,  close-hauled  on  the  same  tack  ; 
the  weather  clears,  and  I  can  see  her  now." 
The  wind  ever  since  noon  had  been  blow- 
ing in  heavy  squalls,  with  appalling  lulls  be- 
tween them.     One  of  these  gusts  had  beer 
so  violent  as  to  bury  in  the  sea  the  lee-gun? 
in  the  waist,  although  the  brig  had  nothing 
set   but  her   close-reefed   main-topsail  and 
reefed  foresail.     It   was   now  spending  its 
fury,  and  she  was  beginning  to  roll  heavily, 
when,  with  a  suddenness  almost   incredible 
to   one    unacquainted   with  these  latitudes, 
the  veil  of  mist  that  had  hung  to  the  wind- 
ward the  whole  day   was  rent  and  drawn 
aside,  and  the  red  and  level  rays  of  the  set- 
ting sun  flashed  at  once,  through  a  long  arch 
of  glowing  clouds,  on  the  black  hull  and  tall 
spars  of  His  Britannic  Majesty's  sloop  Torch. 
And,  sure   enough,  we  were  not  the  only 
spectators    of  this    gloomy    splendor ;    for, 
right  in  the  wake  of  the  moon-like  sun,  now 
half-sunk  in  the  sea,  at  the  distance  of  a  mile 
or  more,  lay  a   long,  warlike-looking  craft, 
apparently  a  frigate  or  heavy  corvette,  rolling 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life,      yj 

heavily  and  silently  in  the  trough  of  the  sea, 
with  her  masts,  yards,  and  the  scanty  sail 
she  had  set,  in  strong  relief  against  the  glo- 
rious horizon. 

Jenkins  now  hailed  from  the  fore-yard, 
"The  strange  sail  is  bearing  up,  sir."  As 
he  spoke  a  flash  was  seen,  followed,  after 
what  seemed  a  long  interval,  by  the  deadened 
report  of  the  gun,  as  if  it  had  been  an  echo, 
and  the  sharp,  half-ringing,  half-hissing  sound 
of  the  shot.  It  fell  short,  but  close  to  us, 
and  from  the  length  of  the  range  was  evi- 
dently thrown  from  a  heavy  cannon.  Mr. 
Splinter,  the  first  lieutenant,  jumping  from 
the  gun  he  stood  on,  called  out,  "  Quarter- 
master, keep  her  away  a  bit,"  and  dived  into 
the  cabin  to  make  his  report. 

The  captain  was  a  staid,  stiff,  old  first-lieu- 
tcnantish-looking  veteran,  with  his  coat  of  a 
regular  Rodney  cut,  broad  skirts,  long  waist, 
and  standing-up  collar,  over  which  dangled 
either  the  cue,  or  a  marlinspikc  with  a  tuft 
of  oakum  at  the  end  of  it.  His  lower  spars 
were  cased  in  tight  unmentionables,  of  what 
had  once  been  white  kerseymere,  and  long 
boots,  the  coal-scuttle  tops  of  which  served 


78      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

as  scuppers  to  carry  off  the  drainings  from 
his  coat  flaps  in  bad  weather  ;  he  was,  in 
fact,  the  "  last  of  the  sea  monsters,"  but,  Hke 
all  his  tribe,  as  brave  as  steel,  and,  when  put 
to  it,  as  alert  as  a  cat.  He  had  no  sooner 
heard  Splinter's  report  than  he  sprang  up 
the  ladder.  "  My  glass,  Wilson,"  said  he  to 
the  steward. 

"  She  is  close  to  us,  sir;  you  can  see  her 
plainly  without  it,"  said  Mr.  Tree,  the  second 
lieutenant,  from  the  weather  nettings,  where 
he  was  reconnoitring.  After  a  long  look 
through  his  left  eye,  (the  other  had  been 
shut  up  ever  since  Aboukir,)  he  gave  orders 
to  "  clear  away  the  weather-bow  gun  ;"  and 
as  it  was  now  getting  too  dark  for  flags  to 
be  seen  distinctly,  he  desired  that  three  lan- 
terns might  be  got  ready  for  hoisting  verti- 
cally in  the  main  rigging. 

"  All  ready  forward  there  T  "  All  ready, 
sir."  "  Then  hoist  away  the  lights,  and  throw 
a  shot  across  her  forefoot — fire  !"  Bang  went 
our  carronade,  but  our  friend  to  windward 
paid  no  regard  to  the  private  signal.  He  had 
shaken  a  reef  out  of  his  topsails  and  was 
coming  down  fast  upon  us. 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      79 

The  enemy,  for  such  he  evidently  was, 
now  all  at  once  yawed,  and  indulged  us  with 
a  sight  of  his  teeth  ;  and  there  he  was,  fif- 
teen ports  of  a  side  on  his  main-deck,  with 
his  due  quantum  of  carronades  on  his  quar- 
ter-deck and  forecastle  ;  while  his  short 
lower  masts,  white  canv^as,  and  the  tremen- 
dous hoist  in  his  topsail  showed  him  to  be 
a  heavy  American  frigate  ;  and  it  was  equal- 
ly certain  that  he  had  cleverly  hooked  us 
under  his  lee,  within  comfortable  range  of 
his  long  twenty-fours.  To  convince  the 
most  unbelieving,  three  jets  of  flame,  amidst 
wreaths  of  white  smoke,  glanced  from  his 
main-deck ;  but  in  this  instance,  the  sound 
of  the  cannon  was  followed  by  a  sharp 
crackle  and  a  shower  of  splinters  from  the 
forcyard. 

It  was  clear  that  we  had  got  an  ugly  cus- 
tomer ;  poor  Jenkins  now  called  to  Tree, 
who  was  standing  forward  near  the  gun 
which  had  been  fired,  "  O  sir !  and  it's 
badly  wounded  we  are  here."  The  officer 
was  an  Irishman  as  well  as  the  seaman. 
"  Which  of  you,  my  boy  ;  you  or  the  yard  ?" 
"  Both  of  us,  your  honor  ;  but  the  yard  the 


So      Talcs  of  A^aval  and  Military  Life. 

most."  "  Come  down,  then  ;  or  get  into  the 
top,  and  I  will  have  you  looked  after  present- 
ly." The  poor  fellow  crawled  off  the  yard 
into  the  foretop,  as  he  was  ordered,  where 
he  was  found  after  the  brush,  badly  wounded 
by  a  splinter  in  the  arm. 

Jonathan,  no  doubt,  "calculated,"  as  well 
he  might,  that  this  taste  of  his  quality  would 
be  quite  sufficient  for  a  little  eighteen-gun 
ship  close  under  his  lee ;  but  the  fight  w^as 
not  so  easily  taken  out  of  our  captain,  al- 
though even  to  his  eye  it  was  now  high  time 
to  be  off. 

"All  hands  make  sail,  Mr.  Splinter;  that 
chap  is  too  heavy  for  us.  Mr.  Kelson,"  to 
the  carpenter,  "jump  up  and  see  what  the 
foreyawl  will  carry.  Keep  her  away,  my 
man,"  to  the  seaman  at  the  helm.  "  Crack 
on,  Mr.  Splinter ;  shake  all  the  reefs  out ; 
set  the  fore-topsail  and  loose  top-gallant 
sails  ;  and  see  all  clear  to  rig  the  booms  out 
if  the  breeze  lulls." 

In  less  than  a  minute  we  were  bowlinjr 
along  before  it ;  but  the  wind  was  breezing 
up  again,  and  no  one  could  say  how  long  the 
wounded   foreyard  would  carry  the  weight 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.      8 1 

and  drag  the  sails.  To  mend  the  matter, 
Jonathan  was  coming  up,  with  the  freshen- 
ing breeze,  under  a  press  of  canvas.  It  was 
clear  that  escape  was  next  to  impossible. 

"  Clear  away  the  larboard  guns  !"  I  ab- 
solutely jumped  off  the  deck  with  astonish- 
ment. Who  could  have  spoken  it .'  It  ap- 
peared such  downright  madness  to  show 
fight  under  the  very  muzzles  of  the  guns  of 
an  enemy,  half  of  whose  broadside  was  suffi- 
cient to  sink  us.  It  was  the  captain,  how- 
ever, and  there  was  nothing  for  it. 

In  an  instant  were  heard,  through  the 
whistling  of  the  breeze,  the  creaking  and 
screaming  of  the  carronade  slides,  the  rat- 
tling of  the  carriage  of  the  long  twelve- 
pounder  amidships,  the  thumping  and  punch- 
ing of  handspikes,  and  the  dancing  and 
jumping  of  Jack  himself,  as  the  guns  were 
being  shot  and  run  out.  In  a  few  seconds 
all  was  still  again,  but  the  rushing  sound  of 
the  vessel  going  through  the  water  and  of 
the  rising  gale  among  the  rigging.  The 
men  stood  clustered  at  their  quarters  ;  their 
cutlasses    buckled    round    their    waists,  all 


82      Tali's  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

without  jackets  and  waistcoats,  and  many 
with  nothing  on  but  their  trousers. 

"  Now,  men,  mind  your  aim ;  our  only 
chance  is  to  wing  him.  I  will  yaw  the  ship, 
and,  as  your  guns  come  to  bear,  slap  it  right 
into  his  bows.  Starboard  your  helm,  my. 
man,  and  bring  her  to  the  wind."  As  she 
came  round,  blaze  went  our  carronades  and 
long  guns  in  succession,  with  good-will  and 
good  aim,  and  down  came  his  fore-topsail  on 
the  cap,  with  all  the  superincumbent  spars 
and  gear  ;  the  head  of  the  topmast  had  been 
shot  away.  The  men  instinctively  cheered. 
"  That  will  do  ;  now  knock  off,  my  boys,  and 
let  us  run  for  it.  Keep  her  away  again ; 
make  all  sail." 

Jonathan  was  for  an  instant  paralyzed 
by  our  impudence  ;  but  just  as  we  were  get- 
ting before  the  wind,  he  yawed,  and  let  drive 
his  whole  broadside  ;  and  fearfully  did  it 
disfigure  us.  Half  an  hour  before  we  were 
as  gay  a  little  sloop  as  ever  floated,  with 
a  crew  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  as 
fine  fellows  as  ever  manned  a  British  man- 
of-war.  The  iron  shower  sped:  ten  of  the 
hundred  and  twenty  never  saw  the  sun  rise 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      Sj; 

again  ;  seventeen  more  were  wounded,  three- 
mortally ;  we  had  eight  shot  between  wind- 
and  water,  our  main-topmast  shot  away  as 
clean  as  a  carrot,  and  our  hull  and  rifrfrins: 
otherwise  regularly  cut  to  pieces.  Another 
broadside  succeeded  ;  but,  by  this  time,  we 
had  bore  up,  thanks  to  the  loss  of  our  after 
sail,  we  could  do  nothing  else  ;  and,  what 
was  better  luck  still,  whilst  the  loss  of  our 
main-topmast  paid  off  the  brig,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  loss  of  the  head  sail  in  the- 
frigate  brought  her  as  quickly  to  the  wind,, 
on  the  other ;  thus  most  of  her  shot  fell  astern 
of  us  ;  and  before  she  could  bear  up  again  in 
chase,  the  squall  struck  her  and  carried  her 
main-topmast  overboard. 

This  gave  us  a  start,  crippled  though  we 
were  ;  and,  as  the  night  fell,  we  contrived  to. 
lose  sight  of  our  large  friend.  With  breath- 
less anxiety  did  we  carry  on  through  that 
night,  expecting  every  lurch  to  send  our  re- 
maining topmast  by  the  board  ;  but  tlic 
weather  moderated,  and  next  morning  the 
sun  shone  on  our  blood-stained  decks,  at 
anchor  off  the  entrance  to  St.  George's 
Harbor. 


CHARLES    WAGER 


'URING  one   of  the   old  wars  be- 
tween   France    and    England,  in 
which  the  then  American  colonies' 
bore  an  active  part,  a  large  ship  sall- 
ied from  one  of  the  American  ports  for  Eng- 
land, with  a  strong  and  effective  crew,  but 
totally  unarmed.     When  near  her  destina- 
tion, she  was   chased,  and   ultimately  over- 
'hauled,  by  a  French  vessel  of  war.      Her 
'Commander  used  every  endeavor  to  escape, 
but  seeing,  from  the  superior  sailing  of  the 
Frenchman,  that  his  capture  was  inevitable, 
he  quietly  retired  below.   He  was  followed  in- 
to the  cabin  by  his  cabin-boy,  a  youth  of  ac- 
tivity and  enterprise,  named  Charles  Wager. 
He  asked  him  if  nothing  more  could  be  done  to 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      85 

save  the  ship  ;  and,  on  the  commander  reply- 
ing that  it  was  impossible,  that  everything 
had  been  done  that  was  practicable,  and  that 
they  must  submit  to  be  captured,  he  request- 
ed permission  to  make  one  last  attempt. 
The  captain  agreed  ;  and  Charles  then  re- 
turned upon  deck  and  summoned  the  crew 
around  him.  "If  you  will  place  yourselves 
under  my  command,  and  stand  by  me,"  said 
he,  "  I  have  conceived  a  plan  by  which  the 
ship  may  be  rescued,  and  we  in  turn  become 
the  conquerors."  The  sailors,  no  doubt 
feeling  the  ardor  and  inspired  by  the  cour- 
age of  their  youthful  leader,  agreed  to  place 
themselves  under  his  command.  His  plan 
was  communicated  to  them,  and  they  awaited 
with  firmness  the  moment  to  carry  their  en- 
terprise into  effect.  The  suspense  was  of  short 
duration,  for  the  Frenchman  was  quickly 
alongside,  and,  as  the  weather  was  fine,  im- 
mediately grappled  fast  to  the  unoffending 
merchant  ship.  As  Charles  had  anticipated, 
the  c-xhilaratcd  conquerors,  elated  beyond 
measure  with  the  acquisition  of  so  fine  a 
prize,  poured  into  the  vessel  in  crowds, 
cheering  and  huzzaing ;  and  not  foreseeing 


86      Talcs  of  Naval  and  military  Life. 

any  danger,  they  left  but  few  men  on  board 
their  own  ship.  Now  was  the  moment  for 
Charles,  who,  giving  his  men  the  signal, 
sprang  at  their  head  on  board  the  opposing 
vessel.  Some  seized  the  arms  which  had  been 
left  in  profusion  on  her  deck,  with  which 
they  soon  overpowered  the  few  men  left  on 
board  ;  the  others,  by  a  simultaneous  move- 
ment, undid  the  grapplings  which  united  the 
two  vessels.  Our  hero  now,  having  the  com- 
mand of  the  French  vessel,  seized  the  helm, 
and,  placing  her  out  of  boarding  distance, 
hailed,  with  the  voice  of  a  conqueror,  the 
discomfited  crowd  of  Frenchmen  who  were 
left  on  board  the  vessel  he  had  just  quitted, 
and  summoned  them  to  follow  close  in  his 
wake,  or  he  would  blow  them  out  of  water,  (a 
threat  they  well  knew  he  was  capable  of  ex- 
ecuting, as  their  guns  were  loaded  during 
the  chase.)  They  sorrowfully  acquiesced 
in  his  commands,  while  the  gallant  Charles 
steered  into  port,  followed  by  his  \)\\iq. 
The  exploit  excited  universal  applause.  The 
former  master  of  the  merchant  vessel  was 
examined  by  the  admiralty,  when  he  stated 
the  whole  of  the  enterprise  as  it  occurred,  and 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Milita?y  Life.      8  J 

declared  that  Charles  Wager  had  planned  and 
effected  the  gallant  exploit,  and  that  to  him 
alone  belonged  the  honor  and  credit  of 
the  achievement.  Charles  was  immediately 
transferred  to  the  British  navy,  appointed  a 
midshipman,  and  his  education  carefully 
superintended.  He  soon  after  distinguished 
himself  in  action,  and  underwent  a  rapid 
promotion,  until  at  length  he  was  created 
an  admiral,  and  known  to  the  world  as  Sir 
Charles  Wager. 


CLEARING  A  WATERFALL. 


EW  men  have  been  more  remark- 
able than  General  Putnam  for  acts 
of  a  bold  and  intrepid  kind. 

When  he  was  pursued  by  Gene- 
ral Tryon  at  the  head  of  fifteen  hundred 
men,  his  only  method  of  escape  was  by  pre- 
cipitating his  horse  down  the  steep  decli- 
vity of  the  rock  called  Horseneck ;  and  as 
none  of  his  pursuers  dared  to  imitate  his 
example,  he  escaped. 

But  an  act  of  still  more  daring  intrepidity 
was  his  venturing  to  clear,  in  a  boat,  the  dan- 
gerous waterfalls  of  Hudson  River.  This 
was  in  the  year  1756,  when  Putnam  fought 
against  the  French  and  their  allies,  the  In- 
dians.    He  was  accidentally  with  a  boat  and 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      89 

five  men  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river, 
contiguous  to  these  falls.  His  men,  who 
were  on  the  opposite  side,  informed  him  by 
signal  that  a  considerable  body  of  savages 
were  advancing  to  surround  him,  and  there 
was  not  a  moment  to  lose.  Three  modes  of 
conduct  were  at  his  option  :  to  remain,  fight, 
and  be  sacrificed  ;  to  attempt  to  pass  to  the 
other  side,  exposed  to  the  full  shot  of  the 
enemy  ;  or  to  sail  down  the  waterfalls,  with 
almost  a  certainty  of  being  overwhelmed. 
These  were  the  only  alternatives.  Putnam 
did  not  hesitate,  and  jumped  into  his  boat  at 
the  fortunate  instant,  for  one  of  his  compa- 
nions, who  was  at  a  little  distance,  was  a 
victim  to  the  Indians.  His  enemies  soon  ar- 
rived, and  discharged  their  muskets  at  the 
boat  before  he  could  get  out  of  their  reach. 
No  sooner  had  he  escaped  this  danger 
through  the  rapidity  of  the  current,  than 
death  presented  itself  under  a  more  terrific 
form.  Rocks,  whose  points  projected  above 
the  surface  of  the  water,  large  masses  of 
timber  that  nearly  closed  the  passage,  ab- 
sorbing gulfs,  and  rapid  descents,  for  the 
distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  left  him  no 


90      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

hope  of  escape  but  by  a  miracle.  Putnam, 
however,  placed  himself  at  the  helm,  and 
directed  it  with  the  utmost  tranquillity.  His 
companions  saw  him,  with  admiration,  terror, 
and  astonishment,  avoid  with  the  greatest 
ease  the  rocks  and  threatening  gulfs 
which  they  every  instant  expected  to  devour 
him.  He  disappeared,  rose  again,  and  di- 
recting his  course  across  the  only  passage 
which  he  could  possibly  make,  he  at  length 
gained  the  even  surface  of  the  river  that 
flowed  at  the  bottom  of  this  dreadful  cascade. 
The  Indians  were  no  less  surprised.  This 
miracle  astonished  them  almost  as  much  as 
the  sight  of  the  first  Europeans  that  ap- 
proached the  banks  of  this  river.  They  con- 
sidered Putnam  as  invulnerable  ;  and  they 
thought  that  they  should  offend  the  great 
Spirit,  if  they  attempted  the  life  of  a  man 
that  was  so  visibly  under  his  immediate  pro- 
tection. 


1 — r— : 

BSB!HaRB9 

t^H 

mm- 

■m^^i, 

HEROISM  AND  DEVOTEDNESS  OF  A 
WOMAN. 


URING  the  latter  part  of  the  Revo- 
lution, Thomas  McCalla  lived  in 
Chester  district,  South  Carolina. 
He  removed  thither  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, with  his  young  wife,  in  1778.  He  had 
served  in  the  American  army  before  moving 
to  the  South,  and  again  enlisted  soon  after 
reaching  his  new  home.  He  was  in  all  the 
engagements  attending  Sumter's  operations 
against  the  enemy,  till  the  17th  of  August, 
1780,  when,  by  permission,  he  went  to  visit 
his  family.  A  short  time  afterward  he 
again  joined  the  army,  but  was  almost  im- 
mediately taken  prisoner,  sent  to  Camden, 
and  thrown  into  prison.     The  persevering 


92      Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life, 

and  heroic  endeavors  of  his  affectionate  and 
patriotic  wife  to  obtain  his  release  are  de- 
tailed in  the  following  interesting  manner 
by  the  author  of  the  Women  of  the  American 
Revohition. 

While  McCalla  was  languishing  in  prison, 
expecting  death  from  day  to  day,  his  wife 
remained  in  the  most  unhappy  state  of  sus- 
pense. For  about  a  month  she  had  been 
unable  to  obtain  any  tidings  of  him.  The 
rumor  of  defeats  of  the  Americans  came  to 
her  ears  ;  she  visited  the  places  where  the 
disasters  had  occurred,  and  sought  for  some 
trace  of  him,  but  without  success.  She  in- 
quired of  the  women  who  had  been  to  Char- 
lotte for  the  purpose  of  carrying  clothes  or 
provisions  to  their  husbands,  brothers,  or 
fathers,  not  knowing  but  that  he  had  gone 
thither  with  the  soldiers  ;  but  none  could 
give  her  the  least  information.  Imagination 
may  depict  the  harrowing  scenes  that  must 
have  occurred  when  females,  returning  to 
their  homes  and  children  after  carrying  aid 
to  the  soldiers,  were  met  by  such  inquiries 
from  those  who  were  uncertain  as  to  the  fate 
of  their  kindred. 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      93 

In  the  midst  of  Mrs.  McCalla's  distress, 
and  before  she  had  gained  any  information, 
she  had  another  claim  on  her  anxiety  ;  her 
children  took  the  small-pox.  Her  httle  boy 
was  very  ill  for  nine  days  with  the  disease, 
and  his  mother  thought  every  day  would  be 
his  last.  During  this  terrible  season  of  alarm, 
while  her  mind  was  distracted  by  cares,  she 
had  to  depend  altogether  upon  herself,  for  she 
saw  but  one  among  her  neighbors.  All  the 
families  in  the  vicinity  were  visited  with  the 
disease,  and  to  many  it  proved  fatal.  As 
soon  as  her  child  was  so  far  recovered  as  to 
be  considered  out  of  danger,  Mrs.  McCalla 
made  preparations  to  go  to  Camden,  for  she 
clung  to  the  hope  that  she  might  there  learn 
something  of  her  husband,  or  even  find  him 
among  the  prisoners.  . 

With  her  to  resolve  was  to  act,  and  hav- 
ing settled  matters  at  home,  she  was  in  the 
saddle  long  before  day,  taking  the  old 
Charleston  road  leading  along  the  west  side 
of  the  Catawba  River,  and  by  two  o'clock 
snc  had  crossed  the  river,  passing  the  guard 
stationed  there,  and  had  entered  Camden. 
Pressing  on  with  fearless  determination,  she 


94      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

passed  the  guard,  and  desiring  to  be  con- 
ducted to  the  presence  of  Lord  Rawdon,  the 
Enghsh  general,  she  was  escorted  by  Major 
Doyle  to  the  head-quarters  of  his  lordship. 

On  being  ushered  into  the  presence  of  this 
august  personage,  Mrs.  McCalla  at  first  con- 
ceived a  favorable  impression  of  him.     He 
was  a  fine-looking  young  man,  with  a  coun- 
tenance not  unprepossessing,  which  we  may 
suppose  was  eagerly  scanned  by  one  who  felt 
that  all  her  hopes  depended  on  him.     His 
aspect  gave  her  some  encouragement,  and 
being  desired  to  explain  the  object  of  her 
visit,  she  pleaded  her  cause  with  all  the  elo- 
quence of  nature  and  feeling  ;  making  known 
the   distressed   situation    of  her   family   at 
home,  the  fearful  anxiety  of  mind  she  had 
suffered  on  account  of  the  prolonged  absence 
of  her  husband  and  her  ignorance  of  his  fate, 
and  her  children's  urgent  need  of  his  care 
and  protection.    She  had  come,  therefore,  to 
entreat   mercy   for   him  ;    to   pray  that   he 
might  be  released  and  permitted  to  go  home 
with  her. 

Lord  Rawdon  heard  her  to  the  end.     His 
reply  was  characteristic.     "  I  would  rather 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      95 

hang  such rebels  than  eat  my  break- 
fast." This  insulting  speech  was  addressed 
to  his  suppliant  while  her  eyes  were  fixed  on 
him  in  the  agony  of  her  entreaty,  and  the 
tears  were  streaming  down  her  cheeks.  His 
words  dried  up  the  fountain  at  once,  and  the 
spirit  of  the  American  matron  was  roused. 
"Would  you .'"  was  her  answer,  while  she 
turned  on  him  a  look  which  spoke  volumes. 
A  moment  after,  with  a  struggle  to  control 
her  feelings,  for  she  well  knew  how  much 
depended  on  that,  she  said,  "  At  least,  may  I 
crave  of  your  lordshij^  permission  to  see  my 
husband .-'" 

Lord  Rawdon  felt  the  look  of  scorn  which 
his  language  had  called  up  in  her  face,  but 
pride  forbade  his  yielding  to  the  dictates  of 
better  feeling.  "  You  should  consider,  ma- 
dam," he  answered,  "  in  whose  presence  you 
now  stand.     Your  husband  is  a  rebel — " 

Mrs.  McCalla  was  about  to  reply,  but  her 
companion,  the  major,  gave  her  a  look  warn- 
ing her  to  be  silent,  and  in  truth  the  words 
that  sprang  to  her  lips  would  have  ill  pleased 
the  Briton.  Doyle  now  interposed,  and  re- 
quested his  lordship  to  step  aside  with  him 


96      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

for  a  moment.  They  left  the  apartment,  and 
shortly  afterward  returned.  Rawdon  then 
said  to  his  visitor,  with  a  stately  coldness 
that  precluded  all  hope  of  softening  his  de- 
termination, "  Major  Doyle,  madam,  has  my 
permission  to  let  you  go  into  the  prison. 
You  will  remain  ten  minutes  only.  Major, 
you  have  my  orders."  So  saying,  he  bowed 
politely  both  to  her  and  the  officer,  intima- 
ting that  the  business  was  ended,  and  they 
were  dismissed.  They  accordingly  quitted 
the  room. 

The  sight  of  the  prison-cell,  or  rather  pen, 
almost  overcame  the  fortitude  of  the  resolute 
wife.  An  enclosure  like  that  constructed  for 
animals,  guarded  by  soldiers,  was  the  habita- 
tion of  the  unfortunate  prisoners,  who  sat 
within  on  the  bare  earth,  many  of  them  suf- 
fering with  illness  and  stretched  helpless  on 
the  ground,  with  no  shelter  from  the  burn- 
ing sun.  "  Is  it  possible,"  cried  the  matron, 
turning  to  Doyle,  "  that  you  shut  up  men  in 
this  manner,  as  you  would  a  parcel  of  hogs  !" 
She  was  then  admitted  into  the  jail,  and  wel- 
come indeed  was  the  sight  of  her  familiar 
face  to  poor  McCalla.    The  time  allotted  for 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      97 

the  interview  was  too  short  to  be  wasted  in 
condolement  or  complaint ;  she  told  him  she 
must  depart  in  a  few  minutes  ;  informed  him 
of  the  state  of  his  family;  inquired  carefully 
what  were  his  wants,  and  promised  speedy 
relief  When  the  ten  minutes  had  expired, 
she  again  shook  hands  with  him,  assuring 
him  that  she  would  shortly  return  with 
clothes  for  his  use,  and  what  provisions  she 
could  bring  ;  then  turning,  she  walked  away 
with  a  firm  step,  stopping  to  shake  hands 
with  some  other  captives  with  whom  she 
was  acquainted.  The  word  of  encourage- 
ment was  not  wanting,  and  as  she  bade  the 
prisoners  adieu,  she  said,  "  Have  no  fear ; 
the  women  are  doing  their  part  of  the  ser- 
vice." "  I  admire  your  spirit,  madam,"  Doyle 
observed  to  her,  "  but  would  advise  you  to  be 
a  little  more  cautious  in  what  you  say." 

Mrs.  McCalla  was  furnished  by  the  major 
with  a  pass,  which  she  showed  to  the  officer: 
on  duty  as  she  passed  the  guard  on  her  re- 
turn, and  to  the  officer  at  the  ferry.  She 
rode  with  all  speed,  and  was  at  home  before 
midnight ;  having  had  less  than  twenty-four 
hours  for  the  accomplishment  of  her  whole 


98      Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

enterprise  ;  in  that  time  riding  one  hundred 
miles,  crossing  the  river  twice,  and  passing 
the  guard  four  times. 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  Mrs.  McCalla  met 
with  kinder  treatment  from  the  other  British 
officers  to  whom  she  had  occasion  to  apply 
at  this  time,  all  seeming  to  be  favorably  im- 
pressed by  the  courage  and  strength  of  af- 
fection evinced  by  her.  Even  the  soldiers, 
as  she  passed  them,  paid  her  marks  of  re- 
spect. 

Mrs.  McCalla  set  about  her  work  immedi- 
ately after  her  arrival  at  home  ;  she  began 
making  new  clothes,  altering  and  mending 
others,  and  preparing  provisions.  All  being 
ready,  she  again  set  out  for  Camden.  This 
time  she  had  the  company  of  one  of  her 
neighbors,  Mrs.  Mary  Nixon.  Each  of  the 
women  drove  before  her  a  pack-horse,  laden 
with  the  articles  provided  for  the  use  of  their 
suffering  friends.  They  were  again  admitted 
to  the  presence  of  Lord  Rawdon  to  petition 
for  leave  to  visit  the  prisoners,  but  nothing 
particular  occurred  at  the  interview.  From 
this  time  she  made  her  journeys  about  once 
a  month  to  Camden,  being  often  accompa- 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.      99 

nied  by  other  women  bound  on  similar  er- 
rands, and  conveying  articles  of  food  and 
clothing  to  their  captive  fathers,  husbands, 
or  brothers.  They  rode  without  escort, 
fearless  of  peril  by  the  way,  and  regardless 
of  fatigue,  though  the  journey  was  usually 
performed  in  haste,  and  under  the  pressure 
of  anxiety  for  those  at  home,  as  well  as 
those  to  whose  relief  they  were  going.  On 
one  occasion,  when  Mrs.  McCalla  was  just 
about  setting  off  alone  upon  her  journey, 
news  of  a  glorious  event  was  brought  to  her  ; 
the  news  of  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain, 
which  took  place  on  the  7th  of  October, 
She  did  not  stop  to  rejoice  in  the  victory  of 
her  countrymen,  but  went  on  with  a  light- 
ened heart,  longing,  no  doubt,  to  share  the 
joy  with  him  who  might  hope,  from  the 
changed  aspect  of  affairs,  some  mitigation  of 
his  imprisonment. 

About  the  ist  of  December,  Mrs.  McCal- 
la went  on  one  of  her  journeys  to  Camden, 
On  the  preceding  trip  she  had  met  with 
Lord  Cornwallis,  by  whom  she  was  treated 
with  kindness.  Whatever  hopes  she  had 
grounded  on  this,  however,  were  doomed  to 


100    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Jllilitary  Life. 

disappointment ;  he  was  this  time  reserved 
and  silent.  She  was  afterward  informed  by 
the  major  that  a  considerable  reverse  had 
befallen  the  king's  troops  at  Clermont,  and 
the  annoyance  felt  on  this  account,  Doyle 
said,  was  the  cause  of  his  not  showing  as 
much  courtesy  as  he  usually  did  to  ladies. 
"  You  must  excuse  him,"  observed  the  good- 
natured  officer,  who  seems  to  have  always 
acted  the  part  of  a  peace-maker  on  these  oc- 
casions ;  and  he  added  that  Cornwallis  had 
never  approved  of  the  cruelties  heretofore 
practised. 

Toward  the  end  of  December  the  indefati- 
gable wife  again  performed  the  weary  jour- 
ney to  Camden.  McCalla's  health  had  been 
impaired  for  some  months,  and  was  now  de- 
clining ;  it  was  therefore  necessary  to  make 
a  strenuous  effort  to  move  the  compassion 
of  his  enemies,  and  procure  his  release. 
Rawdon  was  in  command,  and  she  once 
more  applied  to  him  to  obtain  permission 
for  her  husband  to  go  home  with  her.  As 
might  have  been  anticipated,  her  petition 
was  refused  ;  his  lordship  informed  her  that 
he  could  do  nothing  in  the  matter  ;  but  that 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.    loi 

if  she  would  go  to  Winnsboro  and  present 
her  request  to  Lord  Cornwallis,  he  might 
possibly  be  induced  to  give  her  an  order  for 
the  liberation  of  the  prisoner. 

To  Winnsboro,  accordingly,  she  made  her 
way,  determined  to  lose  no  time  in  present- 
ing her  application.  It  was  on  New  Year's 
morning  that  she  entered  the  village.  The 
troops  were  under  parade,  and  his  lordship 
was  engaged  in  reviewing  them  ;  there  could 
be  no  admission,  therefore,  to  his  presence 
for  some  time,  and  she  had  nothing  to  do 
but  remain  a  silent  spectator  of  the  imposing 
scene.  A  woman  less  energetic,  and  less . 
desirous  of  improving  every  opportunity  for 
the  good  of  others,  might  have  sought  rest 
after  the  fatigues  of  her  journey,  during  the 
hours  her  business  had  to  wait ;  but  Sarah 
McCalla  was  one  of  a  heroic  stamp,  whose 
private  troubles  never  caused  her  to  forget 
what  she  might  do  for  her  country.  She 
passed  the  time  in  noticing  particularly 
everything  she  saw,  not  knowing  but  that 
her  report  might  be  of  service.  After  the 
lapse  of  several  hours,  the  interview  she 
craved  with   Cornwallis  was   granted.     lie 


I02    Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

received  her  with  courtesy  and  kindness, 
listened  attentively  to  all  she  had  to  say, 
and  appeared  to  feel  pity  for  her  distresses. 
But  his  polished  expression  of  sympathy,  to 
which  her  hopes  clung  with  desperation,  was 
accompanied  with  regret  that  he  could  not, 
consistently  with  the  duties  of  His  Majesty's 
service,  comply  unconditionally  with  her  re- 
quest. He  expressed,  nevertheless,  entire 
willingness  to  enter  into  an  arrangement 
with  General  Sumter  to  release  McCalla 
for  any  prisoner  he  had  in  his  possession. 
Or  he  would  accept  the  pledge  of  General 
Sumter  that  McCalla  should  not  again  serve 
until  exchanged,  and  would  liberate  him  on 
that  security.  "  But,  madam,"  he  added, 
"  Sumter  must  pledge  himself  personally  for 
the  keeping  of  the  parole.  We  have  been 
too  lenient  heretofore,  and  have  let  men  go 
who  immediately  made  use  of  their  liberty 
to  take  up  arms  against  us." 

With  this  the  long-tried  wife  was  forced 

to  be  content,  and   she  now  saw  the  way 

more  clearly  to  the  accomplishment  of  her 

yenterprise.     She  lost  no  time  in  returning 

home,  and   immediately  set  out  for  Char- 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ifc.    1 03 

lotte  to  seek  aid  from  the  American  general. 
She  found  Sumter  at  this  place,  nearly  re- 
covered of  the  wounds  he  had  received  in 
the  action  at  Blackstock's,  in  November, 
Her  appeal  to  him  was  at  once  favorably  re- 
ceived. He  gave  her  a  few  lines,  stating 
that  he  would  stand  pledged  for  McCalla's 
continuing  peaceably  at  home  until  he 
should  be  regularly  exchanged.  This  paper 
was  more  precious  than  gold  to  the  matron 
whose  perseverance  had  obtained  it ;  but  it 
was  destined  to  do  her  little  good. 

A  few  days  after  her  return,  the  British 
army,  being  on  its  march  from  Winnsboro, 
encamped  on  the  plantation  of  John  Ser- 
vice, in  Chester  district,  and  afterward  at 
Turkey  Creek.  Mrs.  McCalla  went  to  one 
of  those  camps  in  the  hope  of  seeing  Lord 
Cornwallis.  She  succeeded  in  obtaining 
this  privilege  ;  his  lordship  recognized  her 
as  soon  as  she  entered  the  camp,  and  greet- 
ed her  courteously.  After  some  conversa- 
tion she  presented  to  the  noble  lord  the  pa- 
per which  she  imagined  was  to  secure  her 
husband's  freedom.  What  was  her  disap- 
pointment when  he  referred   her   to   Lord 


104    Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

Rawdon  as  the  proper  person  to  take  cog- 
nizance of  the  affair  !  The  very  name  was 
a  death-blow  to  her  hopes,  for  she  well 
knew  she  could  expect  nothing  from  his 
clemency.  Remonstrance  and  entreaty 
were  alike  in  vain ;  Cornwallis  was  a  cour- 
teous man,  but  he  knew  how,  with  a  bland 
smile  and  well-turned  phrase  of  compliment, 
to  refuse  compliance  even  with  a  request 
that  appealed  so  strongly  to  every  feeling 
of  humanity  as  that  of  an  anxious  wife 
pleading  for  the  suffering  and  imprisoned 
father  of  her  children.  She  must  submit, 
however,  to  the  will  of  those  in  power ; 
there  was  no  resource  but  another  journey 
to  Camden,  in  worse  than  doubt  of  the  suc- 
cess she  had  fancied  just  within  her  reach. 
It  was  a  day  or  two  after  the  battle  of  the 
Cowpens  that  she  crossed  the  ferry  on  her 
way  to  Camden.  She  had  not  yet  heard  of 
that  bloody  action,  but,  observing  that  the 
guard  was  doubled  at  the  ferry,  concluded 
that  something  unusual  had  occurred.  As 
she  entered  the  village,  she  met  her  old 
friend  Major  Doyle,  who  stopped  to  speak  to 
her.     His  first  inquiry  was  if  she  had  heard 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Militaiy  L ife.    1 05 

the  news  ;  and  when  she  answered  in  the 
negative,  he  told  her  of  the  "  melancholy  af- 
fair" that  had  occurred  at  the  Cowpens. 
The  time,  he  observed,  was  most  inaus- 
picious for  the  business  on  which  he  knew 
she  had  come.  "  I  fear,  madam,"  he  said, 
"  that  his  lordship  will  not  receive  you  well." 

"  I  have  no  hope,"  was  her  answer,  "  that 
he  will  let  Thomas  go  home  ;  tut,  sir,  it  is 
my  duty  to  make  every  effort  to  save  my 
husband.  I  will  thank  you  to  go  with  me 
to  Lord  Rawdon's  quarters." 

Her  reception  was  such  as  she  had  ex- 
pected. As  soon  as  Rawdon  saw  her,  he 
cried  angrily,  "  You  here  again,  madam ! 
Well — you  want  your  husband — I  dare  say  ! 
Do  you  not  know  what  these  cursed  rebels 
have  been  doing  ?" 

"  I  do  not,  sir,"  replied  the  dejected  ma- 
tron ;  for  she  saw  that  his  mood  was  one  of 
anger. 

"  If  we  had  hung  them,"  he  continued, 
"  we  should  have  been  saved  this.  Madam, 
I  order  you  most  positively  never  to  come 
into  my  presence  again  !" 

It^as  useless,  Mns.  McCalla  knew,  to  at- 


io6    Tales  of  Naval  and  Uliliiary  Life. 

tempt  to  stem  the  tide  of  fury ;  she  did  not 
therefore  produce,  nor  even  mention,  the 
paper  given  her  by  Sumter,  nor  apologize 
for  the  intrusion  by  saying  that  Lord  Corn- 
walHs  had  directed  her  to  apply  to  him  ;  but 
merely  answered  in  a  subdued  and  respect- 
ful tone  by  asking  what  she  had  done  to 
displease  him. 

"  Enough  !"  exclaimed  the  irritable  noble. 
"  You  go  from  one  army  to  another,  and 
heaven  only  knows  what  mischief  you  do. 
Begone !" 

She  waited  for  no  second  dismissal,  but 
could  not  refrain  from  saying,  as  she  went 
out,  in  an  audible  voice,  "  My  countrymen 
must  right  me."  Lord  Rawdon  called  her 
back  and  demanded  what  she  was  saying. 
She  had  learned  by  this  time  some  lessons 
in  policy,  and  answered,  with  a  smile,  "  My 
lord,  we  are  but  simple  country  folk."  His 
lordship  probably  saw  through  the  pretence, 
for,  turning  to  his  officer,  he  said,  "  Upon  my 
life,  Doyle,  she  is  a  wretch  of  a  woman !" 
And  thus  she  left  him. 

That  great  event — the  battle  of  the  Cow- 
pens — revived   the   spirits   of   the    patriots 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ifc.    1 07 

throughout  the  country.  Everywhere,  as 
the  news  spread,  men  who  had  before  been 
discouraged  flew  to  arms.  The  action  took 
place  on  the  17th  of  January,  1781  ;  on  the 
22d  of  the  same  month,  six  wagons  were 
loaded  with  corn  at  Wade's  Island,  sixty 
miles  down  the  Catawba,  for  the  use  of 
General  Davison's  division.  The  whole 
country  of  Chester,  York,  and  Lancaster 
may  be  said  to  have  risen  together,  and  was 
rallying  to  arms.  On  the  24th  of  January, 
General  Sumter  crossed  the  Catawba  at 
Landsford,  and  received  a  supply  of  corn 
from  Wade's  Island.  His  object  was  to 
cross  the  districts  to  the  west,  in  the  rear 
of  the  advancing  British  army,  to  arouse  the 
country  and  gather  forces  as  he  went,  threat- 
en the  English  posts  at  Ninety-Six  and 
Granby,  and  go  on  to  recover  the  State  of 
North  Carolina.  While  Cornwallis  marched 
from  his  encampment  on  Service's  planta- 
tion, the  men  of  Chester,  under  the  gallant 
Captains  John  Mills  and  James  Johnston, 
were  hovering  near,  watching  the  movements 
of  the  hostile  army  as  keenly  as  the  eagle 
watches  his  intended  prey.     Choosing  a  fit 


1 08    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

opportunity  as  they  followed  in  the  rear, 
they  pounced  upon  a  couple  of  British  of- 
ficers, one  of  whom  was  Major  McCarter,  at 
a  moment  when  they  had  not  the  least  suspi- 
cion of  danger,  took  them  prisoners  in  sight 
of  the  enemy,  and  made  good  their  retreat. 
By  means  of  this  bold  exploit  the  liberation 
of  McCalla  was  brought  about,  at  a  time 
when  his  wife  was  wholly  disheartened  by 
her  repeated  and  grievous  disappointments. 
When  General  Sumter  passed  through  the 
country,  a  cartel  of  exchange  was  effected, 
giving  the  two  British  officers  in  exchange 
for  the  prisoners  of  Chester  district  in  Cam- 
den and  Charleston. 

The  person  sent  with  the  flag  to  accom- 
plish this  exchange  in  Camden  was  Sam- 
uel Neely,  of  Fishing  Creek.  As  he  pass- 
ed through  the  town  to  the  quarters  of  Lord 
Rawdon,  he  was  seen  and  recognized  by  the 
prisoners,  and  it  may  be  supposed  their 
hearts  beat  with  joy  at  the  prospect  of 
speedy  release.  But  in  consequence  of  some 
mismanagement,  the  unfortunate  men  were 
detained  in  jail  several  weeks  longer.  Neely 
was  in  haste  to  proceed  to  Charleston,  being 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.    1 09^ 

anxious,  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  mis* 
sion  in  that  city,  to  get  his  son  Thomas  out 
of  the  prison-ship,  and  in  his  hurry  probably 
neglected  some  necessary  formalities.  His. 
countrymen  in  Camden  were  kept  in  con- 
finement after  his  return  from  Charleston 
with  his  son.  Captain  Mills  was  informed 
of  this,  and,  indignant  at  the  supposed  dis* 
respect  shown  by  Lord  Rawdon  to  the  cartel 
of  General  Sumter,  wrote  a  letter  of  remon- 
strance to  Rawdon,  which  he  entrusted  to- 
Mrs.  McCalla  to  be  conveyed  to  him. 

Our  heroine  was  accompanied  on  this, 
journey  by  Mrs.  Mary  Nixon,  for  she  judged 
it  impolitic  that  the  letter  should  be  deliver- 
ed by  one  so  obnoxious  to  his  lordship  as. 
herself.  Still  she  deemed  it  her  duty  to  be 
on  the  spot  to  welcome  her  liberated  hus- 
band, supply  all  his  wants,  and  conduct  him 
home.  The  distance  was  traversed  this 
time  with  a  lighter  heart  than  before,  for  now 
she  had  no  reason  to  fear  disappointment. 
When  they  arrived  at  Camden,  they  went 
to  the  jail,  John  Adair  was  standing  at  a 
window ;  they  saw  and  greeted  each  other, 
the   women    standing   in   the    yard   below. 


1 1  o    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

Perhaps  in   consequence   of  his  advice,  or 
prudential  considerations  on  their  part,  they 
determined  not  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
good  offices  of  Major  Doyle  on  this  occasion. 
Adair  directed  them  to  send  the  jailer  up  to 
him,  and  wrote  a  note  introducing  his  sister 
to  the  acquaintance  of  Lord  Rawdon.     The 
two  women  then  proceeded  to  the  quarters 
of  that   nobleman.     When  they  arrived  at 
the  gate,  Mrs.  McCalla  stopped,  saying  she 
would  wait  there,  and  her  companion  pro- 
ceeded by  herself     She  was  admitted  into 
the  presence  of  Lord  Rawdon,  who  read  the 
note  of  introduction  she  handed  to  him,  and 
observed,  referring  to  the  writer,  that   the 
small-pox   had   almost   finished   him  ;   still, 
he  had  come  very  near  escaping  from  the 
jail ;  that  he  was  "  a  grand  'scape-gallows." 
On  reading  the  letter  of  Captain  Mills  his 
color  changed,  and  when   he  had   finished 
it,  turning  to  Mrs.  Nixon,  he  said  in  an  al- 
tered  tone  :  "  I    am  sorry  these  men  have 
not  been  dismissed,  as  of  right  they  ought." 
He  immediately  wrote  a  discharge  for  eleven 
of  the  prisoners,  and  put  it  into  her  hands, 
saying  :  "  You  can  get  them  out,  madam.     I 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.    1 1 1 

am  very  sorry  they  have  been  confined  so 
many  weeks  longer  than  they  should  have 
been."  At  the  same  time  he  gave  Mrs. 
Nixon  a  guinea.  "  This,"  he  said,  "  will  bear 
your  expenses." 

His  lordship  accompanied  her  on  her  way 
out,  and  as  she  passed  through  the  gate  his 
eye  fell  on  Mrs.  McCalla,  whom  he  instantly 
recognized.  Walking  to  the  spot  where  she 
stood  near  the  gate,  he  said  fiercely :  "  Did 
I  not  order  you,  madam,  to  keep  out  of  my 
presence  .''"  The  matron's  independent  spirit 
flashed  from  her  eyes,  as  she  answered  :  "  I 
had  no  wish,  sir,  to  intrude  myself  on  your 
presence  ;  I  stopped  at  the  gate  on  purpose 
to  avoid  you."  Unable  to  resist  the  tempta- 
tion of  speaking  her  mind  for  once,  now  that 
she  had  a  last  opportunity,  she  added :  "  I 
might  turn  the  tables  on  you,  sir,  and  ask, 
why  did  you  come  out  to  the  gate  to  insult  a 
woman  }  I  have  received  from  you  nothing 
but  abuse.  My  distresses  you  have  made 
sport  of,  and  I  ceased  long  since  to  expect 
anything  from  you  but  ill-treatment.  I  am 
not  now  your  suppliant ;  I  came  to  demand, 
as  a  right,  the  release  of  my  husband  !"     So 


1 1 2    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

saying,  she  turned  away  and  left  the  room, 
without  stopping  to  see  how  her  bold  lan- 
euase  was  received.  Mrs.  Nixon  hastened 
after  her,  pale  as  death,  and  at  first  too  much 
frightened  to  speak.  As  soon  as  she  found 
voice,  she  exclaimed  :  "  O  Sally !  you  have 
ruined  us,  I  am  afraid.  Why,  he  may  put 
us  both  in  jail !" 

Mrs.  McCalla  smiled.  "  Never  fear  ;  it  is 
not  the  first  time,  Mary,"  she  replied,  "  that 
I  have  given  him  to  understand  what  I 
thought  of  him  !"  The  two  made  their  way 
back  to  the  prison,  but  even  after  they  got 
there  Mrs.  Nixon  had  not  recovered  from 
her  terror.  She  was  informed  that  it  would 
be  some  time  before  the  prisoners  could  be 
released.  The  blacksmith  was  then  sent 
for,  and  came  with  his  tools.  The  sound  of 
the  hammering  in  the  apartments  of  the  jail 
gave  the  first  intimation  to  the  women,  who 
waited  to  greet  their  friends,  that  the  help- 
less captives  were  chained  to  the  floor. 
This  precaution  had  been  adopted  not  long 
before,  in  consequence  of  some  of  the  prison- 
ers having  attempted  an  escape.  These 
men  left  the  place  of  their  long  imprisonment 


Talcs  of  Naval  a7id  Military  Life.    113 

and  suffering  in  company  with  the  two  women, 
and  as  they  marched  through  the  streets  of 
Camden,  passing  the  British  guard,  they 
sang  at  the  top  of  their  voices  the  well-known 
and  stirring  songs  of  the  "  liberty-men." 


■K 

8 

■ 

■^^p 

i^^H^HvS^^^^H 

Hi 

i 

i 

HS 

IhFIm^I 

THE  BLACK-HOLE  AT  CALCUTTA. 


HE  old  Suba  or  Viceroy  of  Bengal, 
dying  in  the  month  of  April,  in  the 
year  1756,  was  succeeded  by  his 
adopted  son,  Sur  Raja  al  Dowlat, 
a  young  man  of  violent  passions,  without  prin- 
ciple or  good  faith,  and  who  began  his  admi- 
nistration with  acts  of  perfidy  and  violence. 
In  all  probability,  his  design  against  the 
English  settlements  was  suggested  by  his 
rapacious  disposition,  in  the  belief  that  they 
abounded  with  treasure  ;  as  the  pretences 
which  he  used  for  commencing  hostilities 
were  altogether  inconsistent,  false,  and  fri- 
volous. In  the  month  of  May,  he  caused 
the  English  factory  at  Cassimbuzzar  to  be 
invested,  and  inviting  Mr.  Watts,  the  chief 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.    1 1 5 

of  the  factory,  to  a  conference,  under  the 
sanction  of  a  safe  conduct,  detained  him 
as  prisoner  ;  then,  by  means  of  fraud  and 
force  intermingled,  made  himself  master  of 
the  factory.  This  exploit  being  achieved,  he 
made  no  secret  of  his  design  to  deprive  the 
English  of  all  their  settlements.  With 
this  view,  he  marched  to  Calcutta  at  the 
head  of  a  numerous  army,  and  invested  the 
place,  which  was  then  in  no  posture  of  de- 
fence. The  governor,  intimidated  by  the 
number  and  power  of  the  enemy,  abandoned 
the  fort,  and,  with  some  principal  persons  re- 
siding in  the  settlement,  took  refuge  on  board 
a  ship  in  the  river,  carrying  along  with  them 
their  most  valuable  effects  and  the  books  of 
the  company.  Thus  the  defence  of  the  place 
devolved  on  Mr.  Holwell,  the  second  in  com- 
mand, who,  with  the  assistance  of  a  few 
gallant  officers,  and  a  very  feeble  garrison, 
maintained  it  with  great  courage  and  reso- 
lution against  several  attacks,  until  he  was 
overpowered  by  numbers  and  the  enemy 
had  forced  their  way  into  the  castle.  He 
was  then  obliged  to  submit ;  and  the  suba 
promised,  on  the  word  of  a  soldier,  that  no 


1 1 6    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

injury  should  be  done  to  him  or  his  garrison. 
Nevertheless,  they  were  all  driven,  to  the 
number  of  146  persons,  into  a  place  called  the 
Black-Hole  Prison,  a  cube  of  about  eighteen 
feet,  walled  up  to  the  eastward  and  south- 
ward— the  only  quarters  from  which  they 
could  expect  any  refreshing  air — and  open- 
ing to  the  westward  by  two  windows,  strong- 
ly barred  with  iron,  through  which  there  was 
no  perceptible  circulation. 

Mr.  Holwell,  one  of  the  few  survivors, 
published  an  affecting  account  of  all  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  this  fearful  imprison- 
ment, and  the  following  is  in  substance  his 
narrative. 

"  Figure  to  yourself,"  says  he,  "  if  possible, 
the  situation  of  a  hundred  and  forty-six 
wretches,  previously  exhausted  by  continual 
fatigue,  thus  crammed  together  in  a  room 
eighteen  feet  square.  What  the  conse- 
quences would  be  were  only  but  too  evident 
to  mc  the  instant  I  cast  my  eyes  round  and 
saw  the  size  and  situation  of  the  room. 

"  Among  the  guards  posted  at  the  win- 
dows, I  observed  an  old  jemmautdaar  (or 
sergeant  of  the  Indian  guards)  near  me,  who 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.    WJ 

seemed  to  have  some  compassion  in  his 
countenance ;  and  indeed  he  was  the  only 
one  among  them  all  who  discovered  the  least 
trace  of  humanity.  I  called  him  to  me,  and, 
in  the  most  persuasive  terms  I  could  com- 
mand, urged  him  to  commiserate  our  suffer- 
ings, and  endeavor  to  get  us  separated, 
half  in  one  place,  and  half  in  another,  for 
which  act  of  kindness  he  should,  in  the  morn- 
ing, receive  a  thousand  rupees.  He  pro- 
mised he  would  endeavor  to  do  so,  and  with- 
drew ;  but  in  a  few  minutes  he  returned,  and 
told  me  it  was  impossible.  I  then  thought 
I  had  not  offered  enough,  and  promised  him 
two  thousand  ;  he  withdrew  a  second  time, 
but  returned  soon,  and  (with  I  believe  much 
real  pity  and  concern)  told  mc  it  was  not  prac- 
ticable ;  that  it  could  not  be  done  but  by  the 
suba's  order,  and  that  no  one  dared  to  wake 
him.  Wc  had  been  but  a  few  minutes  in  the 
room  when  every  one  fell  into  a  profuse  per- 
spiration. This  brought  on  a  raging  thirst, 
which  increased  in  proportion  as  the  body  was 
drained  of  its  moisture.  Various  expedients 
were  thought  of;  every  hat  was  put  in  mo- 
tion to  produce  a  circulation  of  air,  and  Mr. 


1 1 8    Tales  of  Naval  and  'Military  L  ife. 

Baillie  proposed  that  every  man  should  sit 
down  from  time  to  time  on  the  floor:  we 
were  truly  in  the  situation  of  drowning 
wretches,  and  no  wonder  we  caught  at 
everything  that  bore  a  flattering  appearance 
of  saving  ourselves.  This  latter  expedient 
was  several  times  resorted  to ;  and  each 
time  many  of  the  poor  creatures,  whose 
natural  strength  was  less  than  others,  or 
who  had  been  more  exhausted  and  could  not 
immediately  recover  their  legs,  as  others  did 
when  the  word  was  given  to  rise,  fell  to  rise 
no  more  ;  they  were  instantly  trod  to  death 
or  suffocated.  When  the  whole  body  sat 
down,  they  were  so  closely  wedged  together, 
that  they  were  obliged  to  use  many  efforts 
before  they  could  put  themselves  in  motion 
to  get  up  again.  Before  nine  o'clock  every 
man's  thirst  grew  intolerable,  and  respiration 
difficult.  Efforts  were  again  made  to  force 
the  door,  but  in  vain.  Insults  even  were 
used  to  the  guard  to  provoke  them  to  fire 
in  upon  us,  (which,  as  I  learned  afterward, 
were  carried  to  much  greater  lengths  when 
I  was  no  more  sensible  of  what  was  going 
on.)     By  keeping  my  face  between  two  of 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.    119 

the  bars  I  obtained  air  enough  to  give  my 
lungs  play,  though  the  perspiration  was  ex- 
cessive, and  thirst  beginning  to  be  felt. 
Everybody,  excepting  those  situated  in  and 
near  the  windows,  now  began  to  grow  out- 
rageous, and  many  became  quite  delirious  : 
'  Water,  water !'  became  the  general  cry ; 
and  the  old  sergeant  before  mentioned,  at 
last  taking  pity  on  us,  ordered  the  people  to 
bring  some  skins  of  water,  little  dreaming,  I 
believe,  of  its  fatal  effects.  This  was  what  I 
dreaded.  I  foresaw  it  would  destroy  the 
small  chance  left  us,  and  tried  many  times 
to  speak  to  him  privately  to  forbid  its  being 
brought ;  but  the  clamor  was  so  loud,  I  found 
it  impossible.  The  water  appeared.  Words 
cannot  paint  to  you  the  universal  agitation 
and  raving  the  sight  of  it  threw  us  into. 
Until  the  water  came,  I  had  not  myself  suf- 
fered much  from  thirst,  but  now  it  became 
excessive.  We  had  no  means  of  conveying 
it  into  the  prison,  but  by  hats  forced  through 
the  bars  ;  and  thus  myself,  and  Messrs.  Coles 
and  Scot  (notwithstanding  the  pain  they  suf- 
fered from  their  wounds)  sup])licd  them  as 
fast  as  possible.      But  those  who  have  expc- 


1 20    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

rienced  intense  thirst,  or  are  acquainted  with 
the  cause  and  nature  of  this  appetite,  will  be 
sufficiently  sensible  it  could  receive  no  more 
than  a  momentary  alleviation  ;  the  cause  still 
subsisted.  Though  we  brought  full  hats 
through  the  bars,  there  ensued  such  violent 
struggles  and  frequent  contests  to  get  at  it, 
that,  before  it  reached  the  lips  of  any  one,"^ 
there  was  scarcely  a  teacupful  left  in  them. 
These  supplies,  like  water  sprinkled  on  fire, 
only  served  to  feed  and  raise  the  flame.  Seve- 
ral quitted  the  other  window  (the  only  chance 
they  had  for  life)  to  force  their  way  to  the 
water,  which  made  the  throng  and  press 
upon  the  window  beyond  bearing ;  forcing 
their  passage  from  the  further  part  of  the 
room,  they  pressed  down  those  in  their  way 
who  had  less  strength,  and  trampled  them  to 
death.  Can  it  be  believed  that  this  scene  of 
misery  proved  an  entertainment  to  the 
wretches  without }  But  so  it  was  ;  and  they 
took  care  to  keep  us  supplied  with  water, 
that  they  might  have  the  satisfaction  of  see- 
ing us  fight  for  it,  and  held  up  lights  to  the 
bars,  that  they  might  lose  no  part  of  the  in- 
human diversion.     From  about  nine  till  near 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.    121 

eleven,  I  occupied  this  painful  situation,  still 
supplying  them  with  water,  though  my  legs 
were  almost  broken  with  the  weight  against 
them.  By  this  time  my  two  companions, 
with  Mr.  William  Parker,  (who  had  forced 
himself  into  the  window,)  were  pressed  to 
death,  and  I  was  nearly  so.  For  some  time 
my  companions  preserved  a  respect  toward 
me,  more  than,  indeed,  I  could  well  expect, 
our  circumstances  considered ;  but  now  all 
distinction  was  lost.  My  friend  Baillie, 
Messrs.  Jenks,  Law,  and  several  others,  for 
whom  I  had  a  great  esteem  and  affection, 
had  for  some  time  been  dead  at  my  feet,  and 
were  now  trampled  upon  by  corporals  and 
common  soldiers,  who,  by  the  help  of  more 
robust  constitutions,  had  forced  their  way  to 
the  window,  and  held  fast  by  the  bars  over 
me,  till  at  last  I  became  so  pressed  and 
wedged  up,  that  I  was  deprived  of  all  motion. 
Determined  now  to  give  everything  up,  I 
called  to  them,  and  begged,  as  the  last  in- 
stance of  their  regard,  that  they  would  re- 
move the  pressure  upon  me,  and  permit  me 
to  retire  out  of  the  window  to  die  in  quiet. 
They  gave  way,  and  with  much  difficulty  I 


1 2  2    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

forced  a  passage  into  the  centre  of  the  prison, 
where  the  throng  was  less,  owing  to  the  num- 
bers dead,  (then,  I  beheve,  amounting  to  a 
third,)  and  those  who  flocked  to  the  win- 
dows ;  for  by  this  time  they  had  water  also 
at  the  other  window, 

"  In  the  Black-Hole  there  was  a  platform, 
raised  between  three  and  four  feet  from  the 
floor,  open  underneath,  extending  the  whole 
length  of  the  east  side  of  the  prison,  and 
above  six  feet  wide.  I  made  my  way  over 
the  dead,  and  repaired  to  the  further  end  of 
it,  just  opposite  the  other  window,  and  seated 
myself  on  the  platform  between  Mr.  Dumble- 
ton  and  Captain  Stevenson,  the  former  just 
then  expiring.  The  moment  I  quitted  the 
window  my  breathing  grew  short  and  pain- 
ful. At  this  time  my  poor  friend,  Mr.  Eyre, 
came  staggering  over  the  dead  to  me,  and 
with  his  usual  coolness  and  good-nature 
asked  me  how  I  did  ;  but  he  fell  and  expired 
before  I  had  time  to  reply.  I  now  laid  my- 
self down  on  some  of  the  dead  behind  me  on 
the  platform  ;  and,  recommending  myself  to 
Heaven,  had  the  comfort  of  thinking  my  suf- 
ferings could  have  no  long  duration.     My 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.    1 2 3 

thirst  now  grew  insupportable,  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  breathing  much  increased.  I  had 
not  remained  in  this  situation,  I  believe,  ten 
minutes,  when  I  was  seized  with  a  pain  in 
the  breast,  and  palpitation  of  the  heart,  both 
in  the  most  exquisite  degree.  This  roused 
and  obliged  me  to  get  up  again  ;  but  still  the 
pain,  palpitation,  thirst,  and  difficulty  of 
breathing  increased.  I  retained  my  senses 
notwithstanding,  and  had  the  grief  to  see 
death  not  so  near  me  as  I  hoped  ;  but  I 
could  no  longer  bear  the  pains  I  suffered 
without  seeking  a  relief,  which  I  knew  fresh 
air  only  could  give  me.  I  instantly  deter- 
mined to  push  for  the  window  opposite  me  ; 
and  by  an  effort  of  double  the  strength  I 
ever  before  possessed,  gained  the  third  rank 
at  it,  with  one  hand  seized  a  bar,  and  by  that 
means  gained  the  second,  though  I  think 
there  were  at  least  six  or  seven  ranks  be- 
tween me  and  the  window.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments my  pain,  palpitation,  and  difficulty  of 
breathing  ceased  ;  but  my  thirst  continued 
intolerable.  I  called  aloud, '  Water,  for  God's 
sake !'  I  had  been  concluded  dead  ;  but  as 
soon  as  they  heard  me  among  them,  they  had 


1 24    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life. 

still  the  respect  and  tenderness  for  me  to  cry 
out,   '  Give   him    water !   give   him    water !' 
Nor  would  one  of  them  at  the  window  at- 
tempt to  touch  it  until  I  had  drunk.     But 
from  the  water  I  found  no  relief;  my  thirst 
was  rather  increased  by  it ;  so  I  determined 
to  drink  no  more,  but  patiently  wait  the 
event ;  and  kept  my  mouth  moist,  from  time 
to  time,  by  sucking  the  perspiration  out  of 
my  shirt  sleeves,  and  catching  the  drops  as 
they  fell,  like  heavy  rain,  from  my  head  and 
face.    You  can  hardly  imagine  how  unhappy 
I  was  if  any  of  them  escaped  my  mouth.     I 
came  into  prison  without  coat  or  waistcoat ; 
the  season  was  too  hot  to  bear  the  former, 
and  the  latter  tempted  the  avarice  of  one  of 
the  guards,  who  robbed  me  of  it  when  we 
were  under  the  veranda.    While  I  was  at  this 
second  window,  I  was  observed,  by  one  of  my 
miserable  companions  to  the  right  of  me,  in 
the  expedient  of  allaying  my  thirst  by  suck- 
ing my  shirt  sleeves.     He  took  the  hint,  and 
robbed  me,  from  time  to  time,  of  a  consider- 
able part  of  my  store  ;  though,  after  I  de- 
tected him,  I  had  the  address  to  begin  on 
that  sleeve  first,  when  I  thought  my  reser- 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.    125 

voirs  were  sufficiently  replenished  ;  and  our 
mouths  and  noses  often  met  in  the  contest. 
This  plunderer,  I  found  afterward,  was  a 
worthy  young  gentleman  in  the  service,  IMr. 
Lushington,  one  of  the  few  who  escaped 
from  death  ;  he  has  since  paid  me  the  com- 
pliment of  assuring  me  he  believed  he  owed 
his  life  to  the  draughts  he  had  from  my 
sleeves.  I  mention  this  incident,  as  I  think 
nothing  can  give  you  ar-rrroreTrvely  idea  of 
the  melancholy  stata^we  wcrp  reduced  to. 
By  half  an  hour  pLst  eleven',  ^fife^ -greater 
number  of  those  livi|^g  were  in  an  outrage- 
ous delirium,  and  the  others  .quite  ungovern- 
able ;  few  retaining  any  degree  of  calmness, 
except  the  ranks  next  the  windows.  V>y 
what  I  had  felt  myself,  I  was  fully  sensible 
what  those  within  suffered  ;  but  had  only 
pity  to  bestow  upon  them,  not  then  thinking 
how  soon  I  should  myself  become  a  greater 
object  of  it.  They  all  now  found  that  water, 
instead  of  relieving,  rather  heightened  their 
uneasiness  ;  and  '  Air,  air  !'  was  the  general 
cry.  Every  insult  that  could  be  devised 
against  the  guard,  all  the  opprobrious  names 
and  abuse  that  they  could  be  loaded  with, 


126    Tales  of  Naval  and  ]\Iilitaiy  Life. 

were  repeated  to  provoke  the  guard  to  fire 
upon  us,  every  man  that  could  rushing  tu- 
rn ultuously  toward  the  windows,  with  eager 
hopes  of  meeting  the  first  shot.  Then  a 
general  prayer  to  Heaven  to  hasten  the  ap- 
proach of  the  flames  to  the  right  and  the  left 
of  us,  and  put  a  period  to  our  misery.  But 
these  failing,  they  whose  strength  and  spirits 
were  quite  exhausted  laid  themselves  down 
and  expired  quietly  upon  their  fellows : 
others  who  had  yet  some  strength  and 
vigor  left  made  a  last  effort  at  the  windows, 
and  several  succeeded  by  leaping  and  scram- 
bling over  the  backs  and  heads  of  those  in  the 
first  ranks,  and  got  hold  of  the  bars,  from 
which  there  was  no  removing  them.  I  need 
not,  my  dear  friend,  ask  your  commiseration, 
when  I  tell  you  that  in  this  plight,  from  half 
an  hour  past  eleven  till  near  two  in  the  morn- 
ing, I  sustained  the  weight  of  a  heavy  man, 
with  his  knees  on  my  back  and  the  pressure 
of  his  whole  body  on  my  head,  a  Dutch  ser- 
geant, who  had  taken  his  seat  upon  my  left 
shoulder,  and  a  Topaz  (a  black  Christian  sol- 
dier) bearing  on  my  right ;  all  which  no- 
thing could  have  enabled  me  to  support  but 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L ifc.    127 

the  props  and  pressure  equally  sustaining 
me  all  around.  The  two  latter  I  frequently- 
dislodged,  by  shifting  my  hold  on  the  bars, 
and  driving  my  knuckles  into  their  ribs  ;  but 
my  friend  above  stuck  fast,  and  as  he  held 
by  two  bars,  was  immovable. 

"  I  exerted  anew  my  strength  and  forti- 
tude ;  but  the  repeated  trials  and  efforts  I 
made  to  dislodge  the  encumbrances  above 
me  at  last  quite  exhausted  me  ;  and,  toward 
two  o'clock,  finding  I  must  quit  the  window 
or  sink  where  I  was,  I  resolved  on  the  for- 
mer. In  the  rank  close  behind  me  was  an 
officer  of  one  of  the  ships,  whose  name  was 
Cary,  and  who  had  behaved  with  much  brave- 
ry during  the  siege,  (his  wife  would  not  quit 
him,  but  accompanied  him  into  the  prison,  and 
was  one  who  survived.)  This  poor  wretch 
had  been  long  raving  for  water  and  air ;  I 
told  him  I  was  determined  to  give  up  life, 
and  recommended  his  gaining  my  station. 
On  my  quitting,  he  made  a  fruitless  attempt 
to  get  my  place  ;  but  the  Dutch  sergeant, 
who  sat  on  my  shoulder,  supplanted  him. 
Poor  Cary  expressed  his  thankfulness,  and 
said  he  would  give  up  life  too  ;  but  it  was 


1 2  8    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ifc. 

with  the  utmost  labor  we  forced  our  way 
from  the  window,  several  in  the  inner  ranks 
appearing  to  be  dead,  standing,  unable  to 
fall  by  the  throng  and  equal  pressure  around. 
He  laid  himself  down  to  die  ;  and  his  death, 
I  believe,  was  very  sudden  ;  for  he  was  a 
short,  full,  sanguine  man.  His  strength  was 
great ;  and,  I  imagine,  had  he  not  retired 
with  me,  I  should  never  have  been  able  to 
have  forced  my  way  backward.  I  was  at 
this  time  sensible  of  no  pain,  and  little  un- 
easiness ;  but  I  found  a  stupor  coming  on, 
and  laid  myself  down  by  that  gallant  old 
man,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bellamy,  who  lay  dead 
with  his  son,  the  lieutenant,  hand  in  hand, 
near  the  southernmost  wall  of  the  prison. 
When  I  had  lain  there  some  little  time,  I 
still  had  reflection  enough  to  suffer  some 
uneasiness  in  the  thought  that  I  should  be 
trampled  upon  when  dead,  as  I  myself  had 
done  to  others.  With  some  difficulty  I  rais- 
ed myself,  and  gained  the  platform  a  second 
time,  where  I  presently  lost  all  sensation ; 
.the  last  trace  of  sensation  that  I  have  been 
able  to  recollect  after  my  lying  down,  was 
my  sash  being  uneasy  about  my  waist,  which 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife.    1 29 

I  untied  and  threw  from  me.  Of  what  pass- 
ed in  this  interval,  to  the  time  of  my  resur- 
rection from  this  hole  of  horrors,  I  can  give 
you  no  account ;  and,  indeed,  the  particulars 
mentioned  by  some  of  the  gentlemen  who 
survived  were  so  absurd  and  contradictory, 
as  to  convince  me  that  very  few  of  them  had 
retained  their  senses ;  or,  at  least,  that  they 
had  lost  them  soon  after  they  came  into  the 
open  air,  by  the  fever  they  carried  out  with 
them. 

"  When  the  day  broke,  and  the  gentlemen 
found  that  no  entreaties  could  prevail  to  get 
the  door  open,  it  occurred  to  one  of  them 
(I  think  to  Mr.  Secretary  Cook)  to  make  a 
search  for  me,  in  hopes  that  I  might  have 
influence  enough  to  gain  a  release  from  this 
scene  of  misery.  Accordingly,  Messrs.  Lush- 
ington  and  Walcot  undertook  the  search, 
and  by  my  shirt  discovered  mc  under  the 
dead  upon  the  platform.  They  took  me 
thence,  and,  imagining  I  had  some  signs  of 
life,  brought  me  toward  the  window  I  had 
first  possession  of.  But  as  life  was  equally 
dear  to  every  man,  (and  the  stench  arising 


130    Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L ife. 

from  the  dead  bodies  grown  intolerable,)  no 
one  would  give  up  the  station  in  or  near  the 
window ;  so  they  were  obliged  to  carry  me 
back  again.  But  soon  after  Captain  Mills, 
who  was  in  possession  of  a  seat  at  the  win- 
dow, had  the  humanity  to  offer  to  resign  it. 
I  was  again  brought  by  the  same  gentlemen 
and  placed  in  the  window.  At  this  juncture 
the  suba,  who  had  received  an  account  of 
the  havoc  death  had  made  among  us,  sent 
one  of  the  jemmautdaars  to  inquire  if  the 
chief  survived.  They  showed  me  to  him ; 
told  him  I  had  some  appearance  of  life  re- 
maining, and  believed  I  might  recover  if 
the  door  was  opened  very  soon.  This  an- 
swer being  returned  to  the  suba,  an  order 
came  immediately  for  our  release,  it  being 
then  near  six  in  the  morning.  The  fresh 
air  at  the  window  soon  brought  me  to  life ; 
and  a  few  minutes  after  the  departure  of  the 
jemmautdaar,  I  was  restored  to  my  sight  and 
senses.  The  little  strength  that  remained 
among  the  most  robust  who  survived  made 
it  a  difficult  task  to  remove  the  dead  piled 
up  against  the  door ;  so  that  I  believe  it  was 


Tales  of  Naval  and  ]\Iilitary  L  ifc.    131 

more  than  twenty  minutes  before  we  obtain- 
ed a  passage  out  for  one  at  a  time." 

Of  the  whole  hundred  and  forty-six  per- 
sons confined  in  this  dreadful  place,  only 
twenty-three  survived ! 


'W^:s^ 


AN   INCIDENT   OF   SAILOR   LIFE. 


FORMIDABLE  French  fleet  left 
Toulon  on  the  i6th  of  June,  1609, 
commanded  by  a  prince  of  the 
blood,  the  Duke  de  Beaufort,  to 
deliver  Candia,  which  was  besieged  by  the 
Turks.  He  had  with  him  a  capuchin,  P^re 
Zephyrin.  The  fleet,  favored  by  beautiful 
weather,  for  some  time  slowly  advanced. 
The  admiral-shij),  Le  Monarque,  preceded 
by  a  small  brigantine  which  served  as  a 
guide,  was  at  the  head,  bearing  with  pride 
the  banner  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff".  With 
the  exception  of  a  north-west  squall,  which 
snapped  the  topmasts  of  the  Syrian  when 
they  were  off  the  islands  of  Hy^res,  the 
passage  bid  fair  to  be  most  favorable. 


Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.    133 

The  fleet  had  just  left  Cerigo,  anciently 
called  Cythera,  to  its  left,  and  had  dou- 
bled Cape  Carobuca,  which  is  the  most 
easterly  point  of  the  island  of  Candia,  when 
one  morning  the  watch  said  that  a  signal 
from  the  Thercse  had  been  given  announc- 
ing that  a  priest  was  wanted  for  a  sailor 
who  was  seriously  ill.  Pere  Zephyrin,  know- 
ing this,  went  immediately  to  the  captain  of 
the  admiral's  vessel,  and  asked  him  to  give 
orders  so  as  to  enable  him  to  fulfil  the  du- 
ties of  his  ministry. 

"  What  you  ask,  father,"  said  the  captain, 
"  is  quite  impossible  !" 

"  As  things  are,  those  words  are  neither 
French  nor  Christian.  Over  there  is  one  of 
our  comrades  dying ;  it  is  my  duty  to  go  to 
him." 

"  The  man  can  die  very  well  without 
you." 

"That  is  exactly  what  he  ought  not  to 
do." 

"But  I  cannot  take  upon  myself  the  re- 
sponsibility of  doing  as  you  wish." 

"  Very  well ;  I  will  go  and  ask  the  admi- 
ral." 


1 3 4    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

"  You  must  wait  till  he  is  up." 
"  Death  docs  not  wait,  captain."     So  say- 
ino-,    P^re   Zephyrin   went   down   into    the 
Duke    de   Beaufort's    room.       The    prince 
was  shaving. 

"  Excuse  me,  my  lord,  if  I  come  at  so 
early  an  hour,"  said  the  chaplain. 

"At  whatever  hour  he  may  come,  P^re 
Zephyrin  is  always  welcome,"  said  the  duke. 
"  Thanks,  my  lord." 

"What  do  you  wish,  reverend  father? 
Something  very  important,  since  you  come 
so  early  about  it." 

"  It  is  something  very  important,  indeed, 
my  lord  ;  a  favor  I  wish  to  ask  you." 

"  Which  I  am  ready  to  grant.  Speak,  I 
am  listening." 

"  One  of  our  sailors  on  board  the  Ther^se 
is  very  ill,  and  desires  the  succors  of  reli- 
gion, and  I  am  come  to  ask  leave  of  you  to 
go  to  him." 

"  But  to  be  able  to  do  that,  I  must  stop 
the  whole  fleet,  which  would  keep  us  back 
two  hours !" 

"  Two  hours  are  less  in  eternity  than  two 
drops  of  water  in  the  ocean,  my  lord.     The 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ifc.    135 

salvation  of  a  soul  created  in  the  image  of 
God  depends,  perhaps,  upon  your  decision." 
The   prince  had  just   finished   dressing. 
"  What  time  is  it,  father  ?" 

"  Five  o'clock." 

"  How  long  would  it  take  you  to  go  in  a 
good  boat  to  the  Therese  ?" 

"About  three  quarters  of  an  hour." 

"  What  kind  of  weather  is  it,  this  morn- 
ing } 

"  Beautiful  weather,  although  the  sea  is 
rather  rough." 

"  We  shall  see,"  replied  the  duke.  And, 
throwing  a  cloak  over  his  shoulders,  he 
went  on  deck. 

"The  sea  is  terribly  rough,  father,  said 
the  duke.  I  would  not  allow  you  to  expose 
your  life  thus  in  a  mere  boat." 

"  There  is  no  fear,  my  lord  ;  the  sea  knows 
me  well,  and  the  guardian  angel  of  the  sick 
man  will  protect  me." 

"  You  persist,  then  .''" 

"  I  beseech  you,  my  lord,  allow  me."' 

"Very  well.  Go,  and  may  God  protect 
you ! 

At  the  same  moment  the  fleet  was  stop- 


136    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

ped,  and  Pere  Zcphyrin  jumped  into  a  boat, 
in  which  twelve  volunteers  were  already 
seated,  who  began  to  row  vigorously  to- 
ward the  Ther^se. 

The  boat  scarcely  swerved  ;  it  seemed  to 
glide  over  the  waves,  leaving  behind  a  white 
foam.  The  Duke  de  Beaufort  followed 
with  a  glass  the  progress  of  these  brave 
men,  who,  to  save  a  soul,  did  not  mind  risk- 
ing their  lives.  Courage  and  self-devotion  ! 
The  whole  of  a  sailor  is  comprised  in  these 
two  words. 

At  last  P^re  Zephyrin  got  alongside  of 
the  Ther^se.  As  he  went  on  board  all  the 
sailors  took  off  their  caps — the  sentinels 
presented  arms — the  captain  came  himself 
to  conduct  him  to  the  sick  man,  who  was 
in  the  infirmary." 

"  God  be  praised !"  cried  he,  as  he  saw 
the  captain  enter,  bringing  with  him  the 
priest,  "  God  be  praised  !  And  may  God 
bless  you,  father !" 

He  was  a  brave  sailor,  who  had  often 
met  P6re  Zephyrin  ;  the  father  recognized 
him,  and  expressed  to  him  those  hopes  of 
recovery  which  our  lips  often  pronounce  in 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L ifc.    I2,y 

presence  of  the  dying,  even  when  our  heart 
does  not  respond  to  them. 

"  You  come  just  at  the  right  time,  father  ; 
I  feel  I  am  going  to  die,"  said  the  sick 
sailor. 

"  I  have  seen  people  worse  than  you  re- 
cover, after  all.     One  must  never  despair." 

"  I  don't  despair ;  but  I  feci  that  I  must 
get  ready  to  go  to  a  country  where  every- 
body goes,  but  from  which  nobody  comes 
back.     That  is  to  say,  I  don't  think  they — " 

"  Well,  my  friend,  since  you  asked  for  me, 
I  am  ready  to  hear  you."  Then  the  sick 
man  began  his  confession,  which  did  not  last 
five  minutes.  He  seemed  so  piously  re- 
signed, and  so  generously  sacrificed  his  life 
to  God,  that  his  confessor  said,  while  admin- 
istering to  him  :  "  Now,  my  friend,  you  can 
go  whenever  God  calls  you ;  you  arc  quite 
prepared." 

Upon  a  bed  near  to  that  of  the  dying  man 
who  had  called  for  the  assistance  of  God's 
minister,  was  another  sailor,  who,  not  being 
so  ill,  and  having  less  faith,  had  laughed  at 
his  comrade  for  being  so  impatient  to  see  a 
priest. 


1 3  8    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

"Absolution  won't   prevent   you   dying," 

said  he. 

"  Perhaps  not,"  replied  the  other  ;  "  at  all 
events,  it  will  prevent  me  from  dying  badly  ; 
and,  if  I  had  any  advice  to  give  you,  it  would 
be  to  do  as  I  am  going  to  do." 

"  To  confess  ! — I,  Pecard — surely  you  are 

jokmg ! 

"  There  have  been  cleverer  fellows  than  you 
who  have  confessed  themselves  before  now, 
and  have  not  been  any  the  worse  for  it." 

At  that  moment  Pere  Zephyrin  entered  ; 
he  had  now  been  three  quarters  of  an  hour 
on  board  the  Thera;se.  "  I  am  going  back 
again  to  the  admiral's  vessel,"  said  he  to  the 
impenitent  sailor ;  "  won't  you,  too,  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  opportunity  ?" 

"  I  am  not  ill  enough  for  that." 

"  All  the  better  ;  you  are  in  a  more  fit 
state  to  make  a  confession." 

"  I  shall  see  later." 

"  Later !  perhaps  then  it  may  be  too  late  ; 
better  now  than  never." 

"What  should  I  have  to  say?  I  have 
neither  killed  nor  stolen.  I  have  always  be- 
haved like  a  brave  and  an  honest  sailor." 


Tales  of  Naval  and  JMilitary  Life.    139 

"  So  much  the  better,  your  confession  will 
be  the  sooner  over." 

"  If  it  would  not  inconvenience  you  too 
much,  father,  to  come  to-morrow  at  the  same 
time." 

"  Supposing  there  were  no  to-morrow  for 
you  r 

"  Well,  in  that  case,  I  should  not  want  a 
confessor  ;  all  would  be  over." 

"  In  this  world,  but  not  in  the  next  ;  be- 
lieve me,  my  friend,  to-day  is  yours — take 
advantage  of  it." 

"And,  besides,"  said  the  other  sailor,  join- 
ing his  exhortations  to  those  of  the  priest, 
"  if  you  knew  how  much  good  a  worthy  con- 
fession and  absolution  does  one,  you  would 
not  hesitate  a  moment.  Besides,  the  father 
is  right  ;  one  ought  never  to  put  off  till  to- 
morrow what  can  be  easily  done  to-day,  for 
our  hours  are  numbered.  Now  then,  Pccard, 
you  have  lived  like  a  good  sailor,  you  ought 
not  to  die  like  a  miscreant.  That  is  all  I 
can  say." 

"  Very  well,  as  both  of  you  wish  it,  I  must 
wish  it  too,"  said  Pccard,  who,  after  some 
preparation,  commenced  his  confession.   Af- 


1 40    Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  L  ife. 

ter  it  was  over,  "  Indeed  our  comrade  was 
right,"  said  he  to  the  capuchin  when  he  pre- 
pared to  go.  "  Confession  is  a  pill  which, 
once  swallowed,  does  one  uncommon  good." 

The  sea  was  still  rough  ;  but,  instead  of 
having  one  angel  guardian,  he  had  two  on 
his  way  back.  The  boat  reached  safely  the 
admiral's  vessel. 

That  evening  the  Duke  de  Beaufort  re- 
ceived to  dinner  all  the  officers  of  his  vessel. 
Pere  Zephyrin,  with  a  joyful  heart  at  having 
done  his  duty,  was  at  his  right  hand  ;  the 
captain  was  on  his  left.  The  meal  was,  as 
usual,  seasoned  by  wit  and  champagne  ;  for 
the  Duke  de  Beaufort,  the  brother  and 
friend  of  his  officers,  preferred  joyous  friend- 
ly meetings  to  the  stiffness  of  cold  etiquette  ; 
he  possessed  the  rare  faculty  of  making 
everybody  around  him  at  home. 

"  By  the  way,  father,"  said  he  to  the  ca- 
puchin while  dessert  was  coming  in,  "you 
have  told  us  nothing  of  your  morning's  ex- 
pedition. I  am  sure  the  account  of  it  would 
interest  these  gentlemen."  At  the  prince's 
invitation,  the  capuchin  briefly  recounted, 
but  much  better  than  we  have  done,  dear 


Talcs  of  Naz 'a I  mid  Military  Life.    141 

reader,  his  arrival  on  board  the  Theresa,  the 
scene  with  the  two  sailors,  and  his  return  to 
the  admiral's  vessel. 

"  Full  success  !"  said  the  duke.     "  I  am 
not  surprised  at  this  ;  you  are  accustomed  to 
overcome  hearts,  and  to  sway  the  conscien 
ces  of  men." 

The  capuchin  bowed  an  acknowledgment 
of  these  praises,  justified  by  the  affection  of 
all  ranks  of  sailors  which  he  had  won,  and 
said :  "  I  forgot,  my  lord,  to  give  you  the 
messages  these  poor  sailors  entrusted  mc 
with." 

"  I  am  ready  to  receive  them,  reverend 
father." 

"  The  two  sailors  to  whom  I  administered 
the  last  sacraments  told  me  to  express,  in 
the  most  lively  terms,  their  gratitude  to  }'our 
royal  highness." 

"  I  only  did  my  duty." 

"  They  owe  you,  my  lord,  a  sacred  debt. 
They  will  pray  God  to  pay  it  for  them." 

"  Brave  men  !  Do  you  hear  that .-'"  cried 
the  duke,  glancing  at  the  captain  on  his 
left.     "  You  would  have  deprived  mc   of  a 


1 43    Tales  of  Naval  and  Military  L ife. 

great  satisfaction,  if  I  had  not  been  there^to 
give  the  order  which  you  refused  to  give."  ^ 
^  "  Faith,  my  lord,"  said  the  captain,  "  I  will 
frankly  tell  you,  that  I  did  not  dare  to  take 
upon  myself  the  responsibility  of  stopping  a 
fleet  in  full  sail  for  one  sailor  !" 

"  If  the  signal  had  denoted  that  the  spirit- 
ual assistance  of  our  reverend  father  was  re- 
quired for  an  offtcer,  what  would  you  have 

done  ?" 

"  I    should   have   considered   the   matter 

more  attentively." 

"  Very  well,  if  the  same  signal  had  said 
it  was  for  an  admiral,  for  a  duke,  for  the 
Duke  de  Beaufort,  for  instance  ?" 

"  Ah  !  then,  my  lord,"  said  the  captain,  "  I 
should   not  have  hesitated  a   quarter  of  a 

second !" 

"  You  would  immediately  have  given  the 
order  which  the  father  desired  ?" 

"  No  doubt,  my  lord." 

"  And  you  would  have  done  right,  just  the 
same  as  you  have  done  wrong  in  refusing  to 
a  simple  sailor  what  you  would  have  granted 
to  me  ;  for  remember,  sir,  before  God,  who  is 
master  of  us  all,  the  soul  of  a  poor  sailor  is 


Talcs  of  Naval  and  Military  Life.    143 

as  precious  as  that  of  an  admiral,  were  he  a 
prince  of  the  blood."  After  saying  these 
words  with  a  firm  voice,  the  duke  rose,  took 
his  neighbor's  arm,  and,  followed  by  his  offi- 
cers, went  on  deck. 

Shortly  after  this  incident  the  duke  per- 
ished bravely  under  the  walls  of  Candia. 


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